Matteo Berrettini publicly welcomed, and directly to the person concerned, the accession of Jannik Sinner to the place of world number one. A remarkable page for Italian tennis. There is absolutely no reason to doubt the sincerity of the Roman, truly happy for his young compatriot. But deep down, perhaps he must think that he too could have afforded this share of glory. Or another. A Grand Slam title for example. After all, not so long ago, it was he who embodied the next generation of Italian tennis and the hopes of tennis.
Three years ago, his place as Wimbledon finalist against Novak Djokovic (a first for Italy among men since Adriano Panatta at Roland Garros in 1976…), preceded by a semi at the US Open (2019 ) and followed by another at the Australian Open (2022), had established the great Matteo among those who count in the new generation. Since then, Daniil Medvedev, born like him in 1996, and especially Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, toddlers next to them, have joined the clan of winners on the biggest stages. Not Berrettini. For him, since then, it would rather be descent into hell and hassle.
When I played this year, I played pretty well
It was the body of the colossus that called for help. A hand injury, followed by an operation, in the spring of 2022. Then the Covid, which forced him to give up on Wimbledon just before the first round, that same year. In 2023, an abdominal tear ruined his spring, then his right ankle gave out in the middle of the US Open, against Arthur Rinderknech. Withdrawal, end of season and withdrawal at the start of 2024 at the Australian Open. That’s a lot and we hardly saw him on the courts in the first half.
Berrettini has only played three tournaments on the main circuit (plus one challenger) this season. Among the lot, he still found a way to win a title, on clay, in Marrakech, in the middle of two exits in the 1st round in Masters 1000, in Miami then Monte-Carlo. This week, he is back in competition, on the pitch in Stuttgart. After three victories, including one over Denis Shapovalov, here he is in the semi-finals.
A spine-chilling cry: Berrettini’s injury and abandonment against Rinderknech
“When I played this year, I played pretty well. It’s not so much a question of level of play, he estimated this week. The difficulty is the sequence of matches.” Hence the importance for him of being able to find the rhythm before Wimbledon, where he secretly hopes to cause trouble. After his first round against Roman Safiulin, which lasted almost three hours (7-6, 5 -7, 7-5), he admitted to being completely cooked.I had no energy left, but it was my first match in two months.“But after that, winning with a success against Shapovalov (6-4, 6-4) then Duckworth opened up some perspectives for him.
Find the rhythm
Grass is Matteo’s thing. Last year, during a season completely rotten by injuries, his round of 16 at Wimbledon (victories over De Minaur and Zverev, defeat against Alcaraz) constituted a rare bright spot. However, just before that, he had to give up, in tears, in Stuttgart, against his compatriot Lorenzo Sonego, before giving up at Queen’s. The challenge for him this summer will be to be able to increase the number of matches and tournaments without needing to go to the infirmary.
Having fallen to 154th place in March, the Italian has since returned to the Top 100. The road will be long until a possible return to the summit and will only be possible if he manages to stabilize physically. But in the short term, on grass, it can do damage. This is the surface of his best Grand Slam result, his last significant result in a Major, and it is also where he won half of his titles (four out of eight, two in Stuttgart and two at Queen’s ).
Baseline and drop shots: Berrettini’s winning cocktail again
His game still needs to rebuild, but his serve alone remains a massive deterrent, like the 27 aces poured into Safiulin at the start of the tournament. “I rely a lot on my serve, especially on grasshe said. It’s important for me to make my opponent feel that I’m putting pressure on him and that if I break him, he will find himself in a complicated situation..” That’s not everything, but this first ball is his primary weapon here, even if he also highlights his “one-handed slice backhand, which is very useful on grass“.
So keep an eye on Matteo Berrettini in the coming weeks. He is no longer the person he was two or three years ago, namely one of the main candidates for the title at Wimbledon. But if he doesn’t have any problems between now and then (a big “if”, all the same), he will be like a scarecrow when the Wimbledon draw comes…
