At the end of the match, it was Mattarella who came down to the Centrale to hand the trophy to Sinner. With a broad smile, the Head of State extended his congratulations to the South Tyrolean champion, who brought the title back to Italy after 50 years of waiting.
«It is a great honor to be on stage with Adriano and the President». Jannik Sinner pays homage to the man who, until today, was the last Italian to have won the Italian Internationals for 50 years, and to the President of the Republic who attended the final against Ruud, and then presented the winner with the trophy on the red clay of the Foro Italico. Then Jannik gives life to a scene which, as they say in these cases, breaks the ceremony, and which concerns the Head of State himself. It happens when the number one in world tennis observes that «when Mr Mattarella is at my side I am always very excited» and, in an involuntary, but probably more self-deprecating crescendo – while behind him it is «Mr Mattarella» himself who smiles amusedly – adds that «I always end up putting myself in unpleasant situations…».
Thunderous applause from the Roman public welcomed, before the match, the arrival of the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella in the authority stands and, shortly after, that of Adriano Panatta. The former Italian tennis player also wanted to follow the final of the 2026 Internazionali d’Italia between Jannik Sinner and Casper Ruud live.
Panatta, the last Italian winner at the Foro Italico in the men’s singles before today, achieved his historic success exactly in 1976: he will be the one to award the winner of the upcoming edition of Roland Garros, scheduled from 24 May to 7 June. Even in Paris the former Italian tennis player triumphed in that glorious 1976, the same year as the first historic Davis Cup won by Italy.