Background
Panatta was born in Rome. His father was the caretaker of the Tennis Club Parioli, and as a youngster he learned to play the game on the club"s clay courts.
Panatta was born in Rome. His father was the caretaker of the Tennis Club Parioli, and as a youngster he learned to play the game on the club"s clay courts.
He is best remembered for winning the French Open in 1976, and for being the only player to ever defeat Björn Borg at Roland Garros, which he did on two occasions. He became a successful European junior player before turning professional. He reached his career-high singles ranking of World Number.
4 that year.
Panatta is the only player to have defeated Björn Borg at the French Open. He followed this up with another title in Tokyo in 1978. Panatta was less successful on fast surfaces.
On grass courts, his most notable performance came in reaching the quarter-finals at Wimbledon in 1979.
He was beaten at that stage by Pat Du Pré in 5 sets (3–6, 6–4, 6–7, 6–4, 6–3). The team lost to Australia in 1977, the United States in 1979, and to Czechoslovakia in 1980.
Panatta"s final career singles title came in 1980 at Florence. He retired from the professional tour in 1983.
He is also a professional powerboat racer.
Singles: 1 (1–0)
Singles: 26 (10–16)
Doubles: 28 (17–11).