Adriano Panatta slams Djokovic: “Si rassegni a lasciar perdere”” width=”1200″ height=”800″ fetchpriority=”high” class=”op_7_7_4_3″/>
The victory that Jannik Sinner got against Novak Djokovic in the final of the Masters 1000 in Shanghai, in addition to underlining the strength and increasingly solitary primacy of the world number one, it certified a generational shift that had already become evident last year with the ATP Finals when the South Tyrolean obtained the first victory against the Serbian who nevertheless rewrote the history of this sport. Due to the identity card it is logical that Novak, known as Nole, can no longer be the player he was and he underlines this in no uncertain terms Adriano Panattaformer tennis player and TV commentator, jumped right into the topic.
“Forget it”
Looking back at the first set of the match which Sinner won on tie-break, Panatta said of Djokovic that he played well “but an exact hour. After the first set there was no more match so I think Djokovic does too reviews a let it go“, he declared to the Corriere dello Sport. Translated into simple words: it would be time for him to end this sport, Sinner is too strong but without forgetting Carlos Alcaraz against whom the challenges are guaranteed for at least the next ten years. “I believe that a player like him who was probably the best of all time in terms of results, is not a player who can afford to leave the field, I won’t say humiliated, but with a nice beating from Sinner”, added the former Roman tennis player. “I’m a bit sorry because I have great admiration for Djokovic, I always say that I didn’t love Djokovic, but that’s not true. I loved Federer more“.
The exaltation for Sinner
The whole world is talking about our Italian phenomenon who, after the last tournaments scheduled in the next few weeks, has the ATP Finals and the Davis Cup with Italy as its objectives, hoping for a historic encore. Despite the off-field problems that he manages to keep mentally at bay, Panatta underlines Jannik’s extraordinary year “who is playing in a way beyond belief, because it’s true that he has made a lot of progress in recent months, but I must say that the continuity and the average level of play is very high”.
Even in matches where he may experience some breaks he always manages to win and “with players from sixth place down he can never lose”, the former tennis player underlines that when he plays well and without mistakes he doesn’t lose even with the top four in the rankings below him. The real rival seems to be exclusively Alcaraz who has won some challenges this year. More than anything, we must recognize Sinner for the great continuity of his tennis which remains “for two-three hours always at the highest level. The others play like him, but for an hour, an hour and a quarter, then they can’t keep up the pace“.
The differences with Nadal, Federer and Djokovic
Even if it is still extremely premature and risky, comparisons are starting to be made between Sinner and the magnificent three who dominated for twenty years, Nadal, Federer and Djokovic.
The Italian number one in the world cannot be compared to them today. “No, they won 66 Slams together, more than 20 each, he only two. I think he will win many. And that day he will be like them, not now“, concludes Panatta.
