Legendary Jannik Sinner. the number one tennis player in the world has achieved an extraordinary feat: fifty years later Adriano Panatta was the first Italian to conquer the Rome Internationals. Sinner beat Norwegian Casper Ruud in the final with a double 6-4. Record for Sinner who thus conquers all the ATP Masters 1000, and with Rome he achieves the sixth in a row.
«It’s incredible, it’s been 50 years since an Italian won here. I’m glad one of us managed to do it. Today was very, very difficult, there was a lot of tension. There wasn’t perfect tennis on the court, but it was an incredible two and a half months. I tried to put myself in the best conditions, not every day is easy but I’m happy.” These were the champion’s statements after the victory over Ruud. “Physically it was very hard, thanks to my trainers, whoever takes care of my body is as important as whoever takes care of my tennis,” he added.
Sinner is the record-breaking tennis player: at 24 years old he is also the youngest ever to win all the Masters 1000 at least once. The second overall is Novak Djokovic.
«Seeing Jannik win at the Centrale del Foro Italico has something special. Here I lived a day that changed my life in ’76, and today finding an Italian capable of imposing himself with this personality and this game makes me really happy”, was the comment of Adriano Panatta, the last Italian to win the Internationals 50 years ago, happy with Sinner’s extraordinary result. «Against a solid opponent like Casper Ruud he showed maturity, calm and courage in important moments. The Roman public has been waiting for a moment like this and knows how to recognize those who enter the field with respect and character, and Jannik took it all today. Jannik is an example for everyone, I congratulate him.”
Simone Vagnozzi, Jannik Sinner’s coach, said of him after the victory: «It’s incredible what he’s been doing for several months, arriving in Rome with so much pressure and winning: he’s making history». And he added: «In 2022 I started this adventure with Jannik and I would never have thought that he would achieve all these results in such a short time is special. He makes me proud, his mental strength is incredible. What he’s been doing over the last couple of months is incredible. The secret of the team is that we are all people who do this job not because we are with the number one in the world but because they like what they do.”
