Matteo Berrettini: "The ATP Finals would be an incredible achievement"
Matteo Berrettini is currently in action at the ATP-500 tournament in Vienna. But the event in the Austrian capital should not be the last highlight of the year for the Italian.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: Oct 21, 2019, 08:59 pm
by Nikolaus Fink from the Wiener Stadthalle
When Matteo Berrettini touched his right ankle in the first set against Kyle Edmund in the middle of the first set, bad luck had to be expected. The same place of his body had already put the Roman out of action many times, most recently for the tournaments in Gstaad and Montreal.
But Berrettini fought on, turned the game against the British and finally went out as the winner. After the game, the 23-year-old said: "I was a bit scared at the beginning, but the physio told me that it's okay if I did not feel anything with the tape, but I was a little scared, luckily my ankle is held."
Luck. A word that does not really describe Berrettini's season. Not even 18 months ago, the Roman was still outside the top 100, now the 1.96 -meter man even waving the ATP finals in London.
power explosion
"The ATP Finals are an incredible performance, something I did not think about before the start of the season and even before the US Open, so I just got back from another ankle injury," said Berrettini. In New York, however, the world ranking elite put an incredible run and reached the semi-finals, where he lost to eventual winner Rafael Nadal.
"It's difficult to realize what's going on, it's all happening so fast," Berrettini himself says, surprised by his performance explosion. But actually, the success could have been quite foreseeable: With his huge serve and the brutal forehand, the 23-year-old brings exactly those two ingredients that are more important than ever in men's tennis.
skywien
"I try to enjoy every moment and every game," the 23-year-old explains his simple secret of success. Last but not least due to the possible participation in the ATP Finals, the Eighth in the Race to London is already under pressure, but even Berrettini is very relaxed about: "If it turns out, it's great, if not, then I would still be on my performance this year proud."
"Why not a Grand Slam title?"
He wants to fight for the final year final but of course still. With Vienna, Berrettini has also chosen an almost perfect event in the fight for the finals: "I really like the tournament, it's really nice here, there were a lot of people here, and that's rare when you play a first round." The only drawback: "You never see the sun, I actually love to play outside."
In the second round, there will be a duel with Grigor Dimitrov in Vienna. "He is a great player and was also in the semi-finals in New York, so it's going to be tough," the world ranking rider warned the Bulgarian. But Berrettini will also go into this match as a favorite - after the performances so far shown in the current season more than understandable.
The outstanding season 2019 should have been only a foretaste of the coming year. "I never felt ready to reach a Grand Slam semi-finals and did it, so why not a Grand Slam title?"