Italian tennis legend Adriano Panatta believes that his compatriot Jannik Sinner has the potential to become the next men’s singles Grand Slam champion from Italy. The 21-year-old has been in impressive form this year, reaching the finals of the Miami Open and earning multiple ATP top-10 rankings. Panatta, the only Italian man to have won a Major title in the Open Era, lauded Sinner as a “complete” player with a “great future”.
Rising star in the tennis world
Sinner has been making waves in the tennis world with his powerful performances. He recently reached the Masters 1000 Miami Open final, where he fell to Daniil Medvedev but not before overpowering then World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinals. Although yet to win a title in 2023, he has secured another runner-up finish at the ABN AMRO Open in Rotterdam.
Top 10 ATP ranking and great future
These successful runs have allowed Sinner to break into the top 10 of the ATP rankings once again. Panatta, the 1976 French Open champion, has high hopes for the young talent. He said, “I don’t know if we have found a new Panatta because 50 years have passed, but we have certainly found a new champion. Jannik Sinner is a complete player, among the young emerging players. He will have a great future. He’s a champion, that’s for sure.”
Upcoming challenges and performance at the Monte-Carlo Masters
Sinner is set to compete at the Monte-Carlo Masters, where he is the seventh seed. He has been given a bye in the first round and will face the winner of the match between David Goffin and Diego Schwartzman in the second round. The young star has the possibility of a quarterfinal showdown against World No. 1 Novak Djokovic and 10th seed Hubert Hurkacz as the likely third-round opponent. Sinner is defending 180 points in the season’s first clay Masters 1000 event after reaching the quarterfinals last year in Monte-Carlo.
