Can you picture someone climbing to the top of the Madonnina, slipping, and sliding from spire to spire all the way down to the churchyard? Without a scratch or a bruise, just a lot of fear and cold sweat? You say that’s impossible?

Gianni Clerici, Il Giorno, May 25, 1976

Rome, May 25, first round: Adriano Panatta – Kim Warwick 3-6; 6-4; 7-6

The year is 1976, and the 33rd edition of the Italian Open is taking place on the clay courts of the Foro Italico. In the first round, local favorite Adriano Panatta faces off against Australian Kim Warwick in a match that, on paper, should be within the Italian’s reach. As is often the case in sports, however, one should never take a result for granted. And indeed, the “Aussie” tennis player doesn’t need to be told twice, dominating the first set with a decisive 6-3. Here is Clerici’s vivid description:

Warwick, known until now for a successful sporting partnership with Goolagong and for a row with umpire Brunetti that led to his one-year suspension, played tennis so inspired that it surprised even his own Australian friends. With a face dotted with freckles, twinkling eyes beneath his long reddish-brown hair, and legs so firmly planted they could withstand accidental racket blows, Warwick returned shots longer and faster than Adriano, didn’t waste a single ball, and didn’t miss a single tactical play. Throughout the first set, his superb tennis had stunned the Roman fans, who even went so far as to applaud him.

The second set, however, goes smoothly for Adriano, who, with the crowd’s support and a refined serve, takes home a promising 6-4 victory. The outcome of the match, however, is far from decided: the Australian makes a strong comeback and even takes a 5-1 lead in the third and decisive set. From this point on, a legendary sequence of match points is thwarted by Warwick, aided by a highly reactive and resourceful Panatta. A total of 11 match points squandered within a single set—perhaps a record. Adriano, saving the last two match points in the decisive tiebreak, wins what will go down in history as one of the craziest matches ever. The answer to the initial question—about the miraculous fall from the top of the Duomo without injury—is provided by Clerici himself, who captures the exceptional nature of the event in a memorable way:

And yet Panatta is here, unharmed; he speaks calmly, though with a slight shortness of breath, and even tries to offer a logical explanation for what happened. […] I don’t think Adriano is up to the task, given his exhaustion, of making an immediate pilgrimage to the Shrine of Divine Love. He should, however, commission a small votive offering and hang it in the stands, as a lasting reminder of the incident. In one corner of the votive offering, alongside the man who was miraculously saved, Kim Warwick, the Australian, should also be depicted—the man who did everything to achieve his overwhelming lead and was able to capitalize on it.

Absolutely phenomenal Adriano’s declaration at the end of the match — “I never thought about losing!”