Bertolucci: 'Sinner slightly favoured, but Djokovic can do the trick'

Djokovic is very solid, he still puts the ball where he wants it...McEnroe told the BBC that maybe with Sinner he has a slight advantage here on grass...How do you see it?

I don't know if he has an advantage here on grass, surely it will be a different match from the one in Paris, because here he has already won so many times and because after breaking records of all races, species and even religions and skin colours, here he attempts the last unrepeatable feat in the history of tennis. To reach 25 Slams and to do it by climbing two Everests in three days, first Sinner and then Alcaraz: I think it is the best epilogue, yet another unique, inimitable record. This possibility may seem like science fiction to many, but I am convinced that he firmly believes in it, and this gives him that drive, that conviction for which he will take the court convinced that he can do it.

Last year, however, in the final with Alcaraz he lost in humiliating fashion.

The problem is that at his age not every day is the same. I too was convinced last year in the final that I could watch a real match and instead it was an execution, because at Djokovic's age (38, ndr) there are mornings when you get up and your reflex is not so lively, your reactivity is not the usual, you have less strength, less gas in the tank and when you are on the court there is never the flare-up you need. This could have happened yesterday or today or tomorrow, you don't know: maybe today was the daydown but today he doesn't play.

So the chances of victory are 50-50?

No, for me Sinner is slightly favoured because he is the number 1 and because if he keeps the pace up he doesn't give Nole a way and time to weave that web of his - the backswing, the cut, the dropshot etc - in which he has been harnessing opponents for ages. Sinner has to keep the pace very high, always keeping the error rate in mind... if he starts to make mistakes he will be forced to slow down the momentum. No special alchemy, eh.

Let's talk about Cobolli, looking to the future. He had a tournament he won't forget. Where can he go from here? What does he lack for a further leap in quality? .

I was convinced he would become a very good player a long time ago, I had doubts about the faster surfaces (on clay there were none). But the progress - and the results are evident - made me erase those doubts. He is complete, he can express himself well on all surfaces, he has entered the top twenty, and in my opinion the top ten is not far away for him: he will perhaps need a year to gain some more experience, to mature further, to convince himself. He has legs, he has heart, he has grit. He has a beautiful attitude, very serene on the pitch. In some ways it almost seems as if he is in training, but he is not: he is a fearsome competition animal.

Maybe he could have tried a few more short balls yesterday to wear down Nole?

It is not easy to play the short ball, to do it you have to command the exchange, otherwise you cannot. Djokovic never gave him many opportunities to execute this shot. Cobolli played it twice, twice he missed and never made it again. He will have to improve the volley, the bunt, the service directions... before on clay he only served outside kicks, like the Spaniards did, here he used different cuts and for the little he has frequented these courts the results are very good.

Fognini, yesterday with shining eyes, bid farewell to tennis: is there an influence of his, direct or indirect, on the new generation? Apart from Cobolli who said so explicitly.

He was the player who kept men's tennis alive when there was little or nothing. A great Davis Cup animal, endowed with a talent in some ways unmatched. There is no point in saying 'he could have done that, he could have done that'... Everyone has his own character, and that is what he is: take it or leave it, he must be loved for what he is. Today's generations are lucky enough to have a Sinner in front of them who opens the trail... they stay behind and the spotlight is all on Sinner. Cobolli and Musetti can work in peace and that's a huge advantage, the pressure is on number 1 who if he loses a game it's a national tragedy. Here Musetti has lost: has anyone noticed? No. Yet he's world number 7, not 120. That's lucky for the youngsters, who can come up well and don't have the heat on them.

A passage on the teams must be made: Sinner sent Panichi and Badio away; Paolini had left Furlan and now Lopez.

We used to go it alone and it was another world, now the players are their own entrepreneurs, they have seven to eight people on the payroll and there is no club or coach, it is the player who chooses... with precise rules when you sign a contract. It's much worse than a marriage, because you do it with strangers and everything has to go smoothly, perfectly. As soon as something doesn't work, the mechanism breaks down. There are so many athletic trainers - Panichi is one of the best in the world, no question - and so are physiotherapists and managers. Djokovic, Federer himself have changed so much. Where is the problem? When the marriage ends, there is nothing to say.

Paolini's break-up with Furlan had left everyone very surprised.

I don't know why she was there. Given the results, one says 'she was wrong', but you have to ask her. Since I consider Renzo a very good coach, I wish him the right player to work well and take him to the top.

Sinner does not call him?

In my opinion he wants a former number one or a coach who has coached a number one. And then someone who will keep quiet and maintain absolute silence on all fronts, who will be composed in the stands, at most clap his hands and, at the very tragic moments, stand up.

With the rhythms of today's tennis, can Sinner and Alcaraz be expected to play until Djokovic's age?

They used to say the same thing about Djokovic or Nadal... About Nadal they used to say 'after five years this guy can't do it', but he played until he was 36 years old despite injuries. The fact is that nowadays there is a different training methodology, a different diet, if you're not six feet tall you don't get on the court even at junior level, injuries are always lurking. However, going forward, you learn self-management and programming: Sinner is doing it well, Cobolli still has to learn because he plays too much.

The boom in Italian tennis has caused side effects such as criticism - of all kinds and in all tones - on social media of you commentators. In the end maybe it was easier to play? .

(Laughs) Yes, because I was only answering to myself. The fact is that today, fortunately, we have moved out of the niche: before, people used to complain because TV ratings or newspaper sales were low... if you asked an editor to do a piece, he would say 'what? On tennis? No way', now he calls you and asks for the piece. It's clear, though, that when you widen the audience you run into everyone: the graduate, the polite one, the arrogant one, the conceited one, and so on. That's fine, the important thing is not to get burnt out. After all, yesterday I found an Englishman who came out with 'the biggest mistake Wimbledon has made is giving the microphone to McEnroe'. And I said it all.

The tennis of your era and that of today: obviously two different worlds. But what's not so great about that era?  

The locker room goliardia. We used to go in there feeling 'free all in the barracks'. We laughed, we joked, we talked. Now it's like entering a church: absolute silence, everyone in a corner with one, two or three of their team. Every now and then you hear 'Hi', and if you get to 'How are you' it's the non plus ultra. We used to go out to dinner in the evenings with the others, South Americans, French.... Today they stay at home, Sinner cooks. We used to have fun, even if we won less and earned less. They work very hard, they have fun on the pitch.

We saw your wishes for Panatta on social media... what does 3 August (Bertolucci's birthday, ndr) have in store for you?  

I spoke to him this morning, he said that he had put a significant amount of money on the table for authors, audio technicians, those involved in artificial intelligence. "Be prepared," he warned me.

But, all jokes aside, will you be celebrating together?

No, I don't want it! Although actually, now that I think about it, I see him soon in Forte dei Marmi, around the 20th.

According to Forte dei Marmi, there is an Adriano whose surname is not Panatta but who is his nephew... How do you see him?

I don't know, you have to ask Grandpa who doesn't understand a f---ing thing about tennis.