«At the palace of the king of Sweden, friendship with the princes of Monaco»- Corriere.it

“The Queen Elizabeth? Frankly, I think he never loved tennis very much, and even King Charles doesn’t have a particular passion for the racket, which Prince William, and above all his wife Kate, really likes… and as for princes and kings, I keep the photo with Gustavo, sovereign from Sweden, a great sports fan. With Albert of Monaco he binds me by now an old friendship ». Adriano Panatta, legend of the Italian racket – the greatest Italian tennis player with his 10 international titles, a Davis Cup won with the Italian team in 1976 and the fourth place achieved in the world rankings, the year in which he triumphed in singles at the Italian internationals and at Roland Garros — he lets himself go into some confidence about his “royal friendships”, after opening the brand new Adriano Panatta Racquet Club in Treviso for the presentation of the book “Charles III, the heart and the king’s duty” (Cairo).
Let’s start with the king of Sweden, Gustav.

«I knew him well, because I also won the Swedish Open and I remember perfectly when we went to the Palazzo in Stockholm, a very beautiful palace by the way. Well, before entering the grand court of honour, the escort pointed out a parked Porsche to me… proudly adding “that’s the King of Sweden’s car”. Then he Gustavo is a very simple person, I keep the photograph of that award ceremony with affection ».
In 1980, with Paolo Bertolucci, he won the doubles tournament in Monte Carlo. Is this how your friendship with Prince Albert was born?

«With Albert of Monaco there has been a beautiful friendship for years, and before Alberto I had met his father Rainier III: two very different personalities, the somewhat grumpy, authoritarian father but times were also different and Alberto who at the beginning it was underrated. In a certain sense he too, just like King Charles III in London now, who came after an icon like his mother Elizabeth II, suffered the shadow of his father’s strong personality. But he has shown instead that he has great skills. And yes, in Montecarlo I won the double with Paolo Bertolucci, awarded by Alberto himself who, in addition to being a great sportsman who also competed in the bobsled at the Winter Olympics, is humanly a splendid person».
You also met the princesses Carolina and Stéphanie, and you were very close to Stefano Casiraghi, correct?

«I was with Stefano, also an offshore enthusiast, when there was the terrible accident in the water, impossible to forget… I remember everything about those moments, the unreal silence that fell over the Principality. It was too much, too risky. And then Carolina of course I met her on the tennis courts when she frequented Vilas, while the very young Stéphanie who was perhaps 14 at the time I met her one day in Paris, with her father Ranieri and I was struck by her already sly, mischievous gaze, I was 26 years. Then he also demonstrated that the princess had a rather intense life ».
Let’s go back to Wimbledon, Kate Princess of Wales is patron of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club and even Prince George loves his racket. Ever met Queen Elizabeth?

‘She didn’t, and she didn’t really like tennis, but the Duke of Kent and the Duchess of Kent were always at the big tournament on grass. And there was often Princess Margaret and Lady Diana as well. I also remember an episode from Wimbledon that says a lot about the English. After playing for hours in central court, under the eyes of the public, after taking a shower I head towards the stands to see Nastase, I had promised him… but a relentless hostess stops me because I didn’t have the ordinance badge. Needless to insist that it was me, after all I had played right there in front of everyone’s eyes, up until a few minutes before. I had to go back and retrieve my badge to enter. The English are like that, a warlike people at heart.’