The special story of the Roman high-flyer

Born on April 12, 1996 in Rome, Matteo Berrettini only discovered his love for tennis through his brother Jacopo, who is two years younger and currently ranked 448th in the world. At the beginning the spark didn't really fly, so Berrettini wanted to put his tennis racket in the corner. He liked basketball and judo better. However, he was stopped from making the move by his brother Jacopo, who threatened to quit too. “He didn’t see a future,” says the 22-year-old.

So Berrettini continued playing - and enrolled at a tennis school in Rome. First with the Circolo della Corte dei Conti, from 2011 with the renowned Circolo Canottieri Aniene, where a certain Vincenzo Santopadre took him under his wing. The collaboration with the 49-year-old, who was no more than number 100 in the world during his active career, continues to this day - and now, with the Wimbledon final, reached its premature climax. However, Berrettini's career did not always go steadily upwards. Leisurely climb At his 20th birthday, the 1,96m giant was only ranked 536th in the world rankings. At this point, his younger compatriots Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti had long since cracked the top 100. Berrettini didn't stand out from the crowd in the junior division either. The reason for this was numerous injuries that slowed his rise. Instead of despairing, Berrettini and his team remained calm. An anecdote: When the Italian injured his left hand at a young age and was therefore unable to train his two-handed backhand, he only played slice for several months. A stroke that he masters today like few others. And a shot that is partly responsible for his game working so well on grass.

Berrettini only achieved notable success in 2017, when he won his first Challenger title in San Benedetto, Italy. After two more finals at this level, he finished the season in 135th place. As a result, things went steadily uphill. First he took part in a Grand Slam tournament for the first time at the Australian Open, and a few months later he won his first ATP title in Gstaad. It was supposed to be a foretaste of the 2019 season, in which he not only reached the US Open semi-finals, but also sensationally qualified for the ATP Finals. After a complicated Corona season in 2020, he quickly silenced those who described him as a “flash in the pan”. Although the body went on strike this year too. Will the really big hit succeed? Because he was unable to compete in the round of 28 of this year's Australian Open due to an abdominal muscle injury. Berrettini took a break – and came back stronger than ever. With his serve and forehand, which are unparalleled on the ATP tour, he added one success to the next. What's impressive is his consistency. He won 25 of 1 games. The consistency now culminated in Wimbledon, where he could finally make himself immortal with another victory - at least in Italy. Because a Wimbledon title would further increase the already great euphoria surrounding Berrettini. But the opponent is none other than world number XNUMX Novak Djokovic.

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The special story of the Roman high-flyer

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