(ANSA) - ROME, OCT 3 - Italian tennis great Adriano Panatta said Tuesday he was happy that Jannik Sinner had equalled his 1976 record of being world number four and said he was sure the 22-year-old from Alto Adige would beat it too.
    "Sinner has beaten, or rather really 'blasted' Alcaraz in Beijing and is in the final, but above all he has reached No. 4 in the world ranking, as I did so many years ago, and has equalled me," said the 73-year-old Rome native on X.
    "You won't believe it but I am very happy for him because he is a very good tennis player and they tell me he is also a very good guy.
    "Now, when he will surpass me, because he surely will, I say already now that I will be even more happy, so best wishes to Sinner and best wishes to Italian tennis," Panatta concluded.
    Sinner beat world no 2 Carlos Alcaraz in the sem-finals of the China Open Tuesday and will meet world no 3 Daniil Medvedev of Russia in the final in Beijing. (ANSA).