“Soon they will make him a saint, and I say this with respect”: Adriano Panatta he made this joke about Jannik Sinner in reference to what happened to him in the Monte Carlo semi-final, where he was beaten by the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas. The fact that the referee did not see Tsitsipas’ long serve – well over the line – thus not calling the double fault which would have meant 4-1 in the third set, was controversial. At the same time, however, not even Sinner stopped to ask for the chair umpire’s intervention. A behavior that Panatta commented on with a joke.
In the press conference, Sinner explained: “I didn’t stop because it’s not my job, I have to be careful when playing. I felt that maybe it could be out, but if the ball is out by that much the referee should see it, it was pretty easy, on the closest line. Everyone makes mistakes, you have to accept it, it’s gone now.” In this regard, Panatta commented: “He almost seems to come from another era, I have never heard him utter a word out of place. Soon they will make him a saint, and I say this with respect… As a head, Jannik can be a mental coach of his staff and not vice versa. And then athletically he is now a man, in one year he has done it incredible progress. He has changed his serve and has also improved his hand sensitivity.”
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Panatta, who followed the 22-year-old from South Tyrol from the stands of the central court in Montecarlo, to Gazzetta dello Sport he said: “It was just a mistake, the first tournament of the year on clay can always hide pitfalls and Tsitsipas has always played well in these parts. But Jannik remains the strongest player and will be the favorite in all the next appointments, even on red. I only see Alcaraz close to him, but he is too discontinuous while Sinner is a moving train“.
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