Again
Matthew BerrettiniCarlos Alcaraz’s next rival in Wimbledonit was for a couple of years the great threat of tennis on grass. At a time when specialists on this surface are scarce, the Roman won 23 matches between July 2019 and the same month of 2022 and his only two defeats came against Roger Federer, in the 2019 round of 16, and against Novak Djokovic, in the final of 2021.
Bad luck hit him and after winning his second consecutive Queen’s, something that only tennis players who ended up winning Wimbledon have achieved -with the exception of Ivan Lendl and Andy Roddick-, he tested positive for covid, which kept him from playing in the All England Club. It was a very hard blow for the Italian, who gave way to Djokovic on the way to his seventh title, and he has barely lavished himself on the big stages since then; two lost finals (Gstaad and Napoli) and a lost quarterfinal at the US Open, his best results.
This year he has suffered several muscular problems that have prevented him from competing at a good level and have kept him out of circulation for several months. An abdominal tear left him KO in Monte Carlo and disrupted his entire grass tour, to the point of showing up not yet ready in Stuttgart, winning just three games against Lorenzo Sonego and leaving the track crying.
His prospects for Wimbledon, after getting off Queen’s and failing to defend his title, were not the best.
“I didn’t know if I could play,” explained the transalpine player after beating German Alexander Zverev this Saturday and qualifying for the round of 16. «I arrived here and I thought that the atmosphere and the environment were going to help me. I wasn’t very clear about it, not because I didn’t want to, but to play a Grand Slam you have to be physically, mentally and emotionally ready. Are a lot of things”.
“Wishing is not enough. I worked a lot with my team and they let me decide: “It’s your decision,” they told me. A few days before I thought I wasn’t ready, but I couldn’t leave here without trying.”
In his first three matches, played consecutively in five days, Berrettini has beaten Sonego, his executioner in Stuttgart, in four sets, and by fast track Alex de Minaur, finalist at Queen’s, and Zverev.
“If he plays like this, he can win the tournament,” the German clarified after losing clearly.
“If they had told me a few weeks ago that I would play for five days in a row at Wimbledon, I would have signed it with blood,” replied the Italian, who will now face world number one Carlos Alcaraz for a place in the quarterfinals.
Berrettini’s fall in the ranking, especially after letting go of the 500 points he defended at Queen’s, put him out of the seedings and that made him have such a complicated draw so far and that this Monday he will live his fourth confrontation with Alcaraz .
“Well, in a way, this is what you want. You want to play against the best in the world. Playing against Carlos is going to be a pleasure, a battle. I remember that in Australia (2022) there were five sets, and in Vienna (2021) and Rio (2022) there were three sets.
“We always give our best. Now he is number one, so he is the best in the world. It will be a great challenge, but I am delighted to have this opportunity. I remember seeing him at Roland Garros on television. Now I’m going to be out there against him, I’m very happy,” the Italian added. EFE
2023-07-09 19:22:37
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