Australian Open: Matteo Berrettini - at the end of his wits?
Matteo Berrettini had a strong tournament at the Australian Open 2022 with the semi-finals. Rarely, however, have the Italian's weaknesses been revealed as relentlessly as in Rafael Nadal's first two sentences.
by Jens Huiber
last edit:
Jan 28, 2022, 04:48 pm
Who can still remember: The great Stefan Edberg experienced days when he couldn't hit a forehand. Which was annoying from the Swede's point of view, but not necessarily responsible for Edberg losing a match. Serve and volley was the first option anyway, the backhand of captivating beauty, Edberg has managed to win six Grand Slam tournaments. But of course: If you attacked him, then with the forehand.
Matteo Berrettini's forehand, on the other hand, is not to be joked about. The problem is clearly on the backhand side. And the way Rafael Nadal exposed that weakness in the first semi-final of the 2022 Australian Open will give Berrettini food for thought. The slice, with which his opponents at least didn't know anything major to start with, didn't bother Nadal at all. Even the curved version hardly made the Spaniard sweat. And so Nadal pulled his boot through mercilessly, starting with the serve, which came out from the advantage side as if on order - and reliably led to the point. Now the Roman didn't look as fresh as Nadal, maybe with better footwork there could have been more. But the course of the first two movements also suggested: The Roman Matteo Berrettini was at the end of his wits early on.
Djokovic never in danger
Berrettini had a remarkable series at the Grand Slam tournaments last season: in 2021 he was unable to compete in the quarterfinals at the Australian Open, but then he made it into the round of eight in Roland Garros and at the US Open , in Wimbledon even to the final. To fail at Novak Djokovic. Not as smooth as against Nadal in Melbourne on Friday, but Djokovic has never been in real danger of losing a best-of-five match against Berrettini.
Now, maybe soon, there will come times when Matteo Berrettini will not have to compete with either Nadal or Djokovic in the late stages of a major. But with players like Daniil Medvedev , Alexander Zverev or Stefanos Tsitsipas . After all, they are neither left-handed like Nadal (which helps when it comes to returns), nor are they equipped with the large arsenal of weapons like the industry leader from Serbia.
Bad records against Zverev, Medvedev, Tsitsipas
But: The three mentioned do not have such a gaping hole in their game as Berrettini has on his backhand side. Zverev's forehand is sometimes seen as a weakness, Medvedev is not a man for whom the net game comes naturally - and Tsitsipas tends to make matches that have already been won exciting again. And to lose. The balance sheets against the three don't look particularly great for Berrettini at the moment: against Tsitsipas he has lost both previous matches, against Medvedev all three, against Zverev it is 1: 4. And then there are the up-and-coming young professionals like Carlos Alcaraz , against whom Berrettini just pulled his head out of the noose in the round of 16.
Can Matteo Berrettini still win one or more majors? Naturally. Because the serve is one of the best in the world, which helps especially in Wimbledon. The forehand can be merciless (if the footwork cooperates), that helps everywhere. And the Roman can also look at the phase at the end of the third and beginning of the fourth set: the backhand suddenly became a point hit. A phenomenon that could also be admired in Stefan Edberg's forehand.
Here is the individual tableau at the Australian Open
laver arena