ATP Belgrade: Matteo Berrettini with fourth career title after success over Karatsev
Matteo Berrettini won his fourth career title in Belgrade. The Roman defeated Aslan Karatsev in a thrilling final 6: 1, 3: 6 and 7: 6 (0).
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit: Apr 25, 2021, 07:39 pm
What kind of surprise was that on Saturday evening in Belgrade, Serbia? Novak Djokovic, the superior number one in the men's tennis world, lost to the whiz kid Aslan Karatsev in a thriller from a tennis match at his home tournament - and is therefore still looking for his form in the course of the European clay court season.
#VIDEO#
For Karatsev, on the other hand, this meant the chance for career title number two. However, on Sunday afternoon it was necessary to master the final hurdle Matteo Berrettini, who has presented himself in the best mood in the tournament so far in the Serbian capital and - with small exceptions - almost walked into the final.
Berrettini with a quick start
With this serenity, the Roman went to work at the start of the final with Karatsev, the Italian dominated the event almost at will and surprisingly secured the opening set with 6: 1. His Russian opponent was somewhat unimpressed by this, found himself better and better in the match with the course of the second round and sent the game 6: 3 into a third decisive set.
In this it was again Berrettini who was to usurp the scepter. The Roman grabbed the first break of the third round and quickly moved away to 3-1. Aslan Karatsev was still in an excellent comeback mood, managed the rebreak immediately and made it 3: 3 with his own serve.
Fourth career title for Berrettini
An extremely exciting final phase developed. Berrettini was flawless on his own serve and always managed to push the pressure towards his opponent Aslan Karatsev at an express train pace. He had to struggle with some dicey situations, even had to fend off a match point when the score was 5: 6 - but finally sent the game into a tie-break with an overhead volley.
And this too should begin with another twist in this roller coaster ride of a tennis game. After a backhand Karatsevs just got stuck on the net, Berrettini got the first mini-break of the short decision - and even made it 3-0 after a great rally. The strong-serving Roman should not be able to miss that - after almost two and a half hours, the tenth in the world rankings finally made the title win in Belgrade perfect.
For Berrettini it is only the fourth title on the ATP tour. The world number tenth had so far triumphed in Gstaad (2018), Budapest and Stuttgart (both 2019). Berrettini collected three of his four titles on clay - even though the Roman is actually the hardest to play on on hard courts. For Karatsev, however, a great tennis week in Belgrade ends in a bitter defeat.