Former Italian tennis champion Adriano Panatta analyzed the chances that Matteo Berrettini and Jannik Sinner have to win a Grand Slam. Former Roland Garros winner said, comparing the two situations: “Will an Italian tennis player win a Grand Slam in 2023? Complicated to predict what will happen.
Sure, going for success in a Major right now is difficult, but I think we have the players to be able to hit the target. Berrettini and Sinner have these possibilities and above all Matteo at Wimbledon, in 2021, proved to be one of the best.
For me, he is the one who has the most chance of winning a Major in the short term. In the long term However, I think Sinner will come out. He’s young, he’s training and he’s had many setbacks this year.”
Can Italian men’s tennis win a Grand Slam again?
The only two Italian tennis players capable of winning a Grand Slam tournament in men’s singles were Nicola Pietrangeli and Adriano Panatta.
The former won the Roland Garros twice, respectively in 1959 and 1960. Panatta, on the other hand, always won the title in Paris, but in 1976. Precisely in this context, the first final conquered on the lawns of the All England Club by an Italian athlete in 2021 is even more historic.
It is obviously Matteo Berrettini, who only failed to overcome the obstacle Novak Djokovic. The Italian proved to be one of the best lawn tennis players and, also this year, could have had his say at Wimbledon. Building on the successes achieved in Stuttgart and at Quenn’s, Berrettini was ready to make his debut in London when the sudden positivity to Covid-19 forced him to raise the white flag.
The other great star of Italian tennis, namely Jannik Sinner, instead conquered the quarterfinals in three Grand Slams out of four last season. If at the Australian Open against Stefanos Tsitsipas he had no chance to win; at Wimbledon and at the US Open, Sinner arrived just one step away from the semifinal.
Berrettini was up by two sets through Djokovic and had a match point available against Carlos Alcaraz at Flushing Meadows. In both cases, however, he was the opponent to go on and win both the fight and the tournament.
