15 Facts About Adriano Panatta

Adriano Panatta won the French Open in 1976, and was the only player ever to defeat Bjorn Borg at Roland Garros, doing so on two occasions.

Adriano Panatta is the only Italian man to win a men's singles Grand Slam title in the Open Era.

Adriano Panatta is currently a regular guest of the RAI broadcast Quelli che.

Adriano Panatta's 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.

Adriano Panatta became a successful European junior player before turning professional.

Adriano Panatta finished off 1976 by helping Italy capture its first-ever Davis Cup title, winning two singles and a doubles rubber in the final against Chile.

Adriano Panatta reached his career-high singles ranking of world No 4 that year.

Adriano Panatta is the only player to have defeated Bjorn Borg at the French Open.

Adriano Panatta faced Borg at the semifinal stage of the 1975 tournament; Borg won on this occasion in four sets.

In 1977, Adriano Panatta won the World Championship Tennis in Houston, where he defeated Jimmy Connors and Vitas Gerulaitis.

Adriano Panatta followed this up with another title in Tokyo in 1978.

Adriano Panatta was beaten at that stage by Pat Du Pre in five sets.

Since retiring as a player, Adriano Panatta has served as captain of Italy's Davis Cup team, and as tournament director of the Rome Masters.

Adriano Panatta was driver of offshore powerboat racing in world championships, category in which he would have graduated world champion in 1990 had it not been for the fact that the world title that year was not awarded for mourning following the tragic death in competition of Stefano Casiraghi, husband of the Caroline, Princess of Hanover.

Furthermore, from 1992 until 2002, Adriano Panatta was a rally driver, arriving in 1992 to compete in a round of the World Rally Championship, the Sanremo Rally in a Peugeot 309 GTI.