Adriano Panatta

Adriano Panatta is an Italian former professional tennis player, born in Rome on 9 July 1950, who learned the game on the clay courts of the Tennis Club Parioli, where his father was the caretaker. He won the 1976 French Open, becoming the first Italian man in the Open Era to win a major singles title. That year he also led Italy to the Davis Cup crown and won the Italian Open, and he reached a career-high ranking of world No. 4 in men's singles. Panatta was the only player ever to defeat Björn Borg at the French Open, doing so twice, and in 1976 he beat the two-time defending champion on his way to the title. His final career singles title came in 1980 at Florence, and he retired from the professional tour in 1983.