Rafael Nadal and Jannik Sinner penned heartfelt notes honoring Italian tennis legend Lea Pericoli. On Friday, October 4, the well-known Italian athlete passed away at the age of 89.
In 1976, Pericoli gave up tennis and became a journalist and TV host. In 2007, she received the Fed Cup Award of Excellence as recognition.
Nadal shared an old photo of Pericoli on Instagram, showing her holding a wooden racquet that players used back in the day while sporting a ruffled skirt.
Nadal wrote in Spanish: “Hi Lea. Thanks for everything. You will always be remembered by all of us.”
Sinner shared a photo of fellow countrymen enjoying a memorable moment on X. The world No. 1 paid a moving tribute to Pericoli alongside the photo.
Sinner wrote on X: “A special moment I’ll remember forever. A great woman and a legend of Italian tennis.”
Sinner in Shanghai, ranking, and results in 2024
Ranked world no.1, the Italian owns a composed 61-6 win-loss record in 2024. Sinner is now playing in Shanghai where he managed to beat Unknown Player bye, the world no.93 Taro Daniel 6-1 6-4 and the world no.37 Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-7(3) 6-4 6-2.
The Italian clinched 6 titles in 2024 at the Australian Open, Rotterdam, Miami, Halle, Cincinnati and U.S. Open. The Italian got to the final in Beijing (China Open).
The Italian won 17 titles in his career: 8 on hard courts, 1 on clay courts, 7 on indoor courts and 1 on grass courts. (See the list of his titles)
Sinner has scheduled to compete next in Paris (Rolex Paris Masters). He will start the tournament from the main draw that will commence on the 28th of October.
Rafael Nadal in 2024
At the moment ranked no.158, the Spaniard played his last match on the 29th of July when he lost to world no.4 Novak Djokovic 6-1 6-4 in the 2nd round in Paris (draw).
At the moment, during this season the Spaniard achieved a 12-7 match record. Rafael Nadal’s best result of the current year was getting to the final in Bastad.
Jannik Sinner and Rafael Nadal squared off 3 times. Their current head to head is 3-0 for Nadal. Before, the last time they locked horns, Rafael Nadal won 7-5 6-3 6-0 in the 4th round in Paris (French Open) in June 2021.
In the following video you can watch the highlights.