Wimbledon: Matteo Berrettini just happy to be back at his favourite playground

Moments after his straight sets defeat to Lorenzo Sonego in the Stuttgart Open first round last month, Matteo Berrettini trudged off the court. Acknowledging the crowd’s generous round of applause, the Italian looked up, folded his hands and dropped his head, wiping away tears. Head down and eyes covered through the exit, the sobbing did not stop.

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Two years ago on grass, Berrettini was a Wimbledon finalist who’d dared to challenge Novak Djokovic, taking a set off him. A year later, just as red hot on the greens, Berrettini was a back-to-back champion of Stuttgart and Queen's Championships. Now, on the same surface and in those very tournaments, Berrettini managed to take just three games against his lower-ranked compatriot to begin his title defence in Stuttgart and did not even turn up for it at Queen’s.

The lawns of All England Club, only as far as a couple of weeks ago, seemed a long shot for the 27-year-old.

On Monday though, Berrettini will take on world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz for a spot in the quarter-finals of this Wimbledon. That, after the world No.38 went past Germany’s Alexander Zverev, the French Open semi-finalist, 6-3, 7-6(4), 7-6(5) in the third round on Saturday night in a masterclass of serving and a reminder of his old lethal self. That, after the former world No.6 had missed last year's Wimbledon due to Covid infection and plenty more events over the past 18 months due to multiple physical obstacles.

The more recent among them, a stomach muscle tear that made him skip most of the clay swing including the French Open, allowed him to compete in only two tournaments since March. Then the abdominal injury that kept him out of Queen's clouded his presence at SW19 altogether, leave alone the roof-enclosed No.1 Court reverberating with the sound of his roar after blasting an ace past Zverev to seal the match.

“Honestly, I don't know. It feels unbelievable," Berrettini said on court about his turnaround. “It’s something I didn’t believe could happen. I didn’t play too many matches this year. It must be something special about this place. I love to play here... This tournament changed my career, my life.”

It also made the 6'5" Italian a consistent and towering figure in the second week of Grand Slams. In the three majors he played after that 2021 Wimbledon final run, Berrettini entered the quarter-final of the 2021 and 2022 US Open and the semi-final of the Australian Open last year where he lost to Rafael Nadal. Soon after, though, the then sixth-ranked player’s injury troubles mounted.

He skipped last year's French Open after a minor hand surgery, which kept him out from March to June. Returning like he'd never gone, Berrettini lifted titles in his first two events back on grass leading up to Wimbledon. Returning there as a runner-up, he was forced to withdraw on the morning of his opening match after testing positive for Covid amid Wimbledon’s strict protocols. “I still didn’t heal from that withdrawal,” he said on Saturday.

A foot injury suffered during the ATP 250 Naples in October also took time to heal, keeping him from playing for his country in the Davis Cup Finals and shutting down his season.

Out of the top 10 at the turn of the year, Berrettini was quickly out of rhythm and belief. A first round five-set loss to Andy Murray at the Australian Open would be the first of his four opening round defeats to players ranked 66, 103, 55 and 41 in the first half of this season. The abdominal issues only added to his torrid time with Berrettini competing in a sprinkle of 14 matches and losing half of them.

Then he turned up at Wimbledon and, almost wondrously, turned it on. A far cry — literally and figuratively — from the 6-1, 6-2 outcome with Sonego in Stuttgart, Berrettini beat him in four sets in London. Queen's finalist Alex de Minaur and Zverev were then straight-set affairs, although not quite routine as the rain delays required Berrettini to play on each of the first five days.

“I spent many days in my bed crying about not being able to play. So, five days in a row is nothing," he said, smiling. “It’s sad but it’s true. I missed playing, missed competing. People that are close to me, they know about it.”

People across the net also know about his dangerous game, topped by the stinging serve that generates rich rewards on grass. In his three matches at this Wimbledon, the well-built Italian has served up 17, 13 and 15 aces and collected more than 80% points on first serve. Add an equally powerful forehand to the mix and those weapons can be a handful for anybody. Including the guy next up, top seed Alcaraz.

“The first time I played him I felt this kid is special,” Berrettini, who beat the young Spaniard in five sets at last year’s Australian Open, said. “We always had great matches. Really looking forward to that. Like I said, I am enjoying every single minute here.”

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