Jannik Sinner forces tennis icon to 'change the TV channel' in ATP Finals complaint
Jannik Sinner got off to a winning start at the ATP Finals.
Jannik Sinner’s ATP Finals victory sparked a scathing rant from an Italian tennis icon.
Adriano Panatta - the last Italian to lift a Grand Slam title before Sinner picked up two this year - wasn’t entertained by the world No. 1’s win over Alex de Minaur on Sunday.
While the home crowd in the Inalpi Arena were happy to see their man get off to a strong start, the 1976 French Open champion claimed he wanted to “change the channel”.
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Sinner enjoyed a successful homecoming on Sunday. Playing his first match of the season on Italian soil, he needed 85 minutes to ease past debutant De Minaur at the year-end championships.
The 23-year-old went down an early break but he raised his level and momentum quickly shifted. Once he got back on serve, Sinner wasn’t troubled again.
While Panatta has been impressed by his compatriot’s dominance, he believes most of Sinner’s rivals have no plan to beat him.
Sinner played a normal and routine match and that was enough for him,” he told the La Domenica Sportiva show. “It’s boring.”
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Naming the few players he thought could cause problems for Sinner, the 74-year-old continued: “At the moment, Jannik can only lose against [Carlos] Alcaraz or maybe [Novak] Djokovic.
“He can stumble against [Alexander] Zverev, but that won't happen to him against [Daniil] Medvedev.”
As for the rest of the field? “They seem to have absolutely no idea how to beat him. They're already starting to lose,” Panatta said.
“I almost want to change the channel because the outcome is so predictable.”
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Panatta is now hoping that Alcaraz can get out of the group stage to have a real tussle with Sinner. “I hope there will be a final between Alcaraz and Sinner. That would be the only really hard-fought match of this tournament,” he added.
While the former world No. 4 isn’t happy with the rest of the field, he piled the praise on Sinner for his composure. “Does he feel pressure? Never,” Panatta exclaimed.
“He doesn't even feel his blood pressure. It must be high 100 and low 70.
“But in terms of attitude on the pitch, I have never seen anyone like him. And he makes no mistakes, neither on nor off the pitch.”
