Berrettini Battles Back In Cincinnati Behind 25 Aces
Matteo Berrettini did not get an easy welcome back to action on Tuesday in his first match since Wimbledon, but the fifth seed found a way to reach the third round at the Western & Southern Open.
The Italian star rallied past Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-5 after two hours and 20 minutes to advance in Cincinnati. The 25-year-old had not played since the final of The Championships due to a thigh injury.
Berrettini has now won 15 of his past 17 matches and is 33-7 on the season. This year’s Belgrade and Queen’s Club champion will next play 12th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, one of his best friends on Tour, or Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Karen Khachanov.
[FOLLOW 1000]The players did not begin their clash until just shy of 8 p.m due to more than four hours of rain. Berrettini, a 2019 Nitto ATP Finals competitor, was in trouble against Ramos-Vinolas, who proved a tricky foe for his first match in more than a month.
The lefty uses heavy spin on his forehand and rarely makes unforced errors, and that seemed to bother Berrettini, who was searching for rhythm. The Italian hit 25 aces in the match to stay in contact and escape difficult service games.
But in the deciding moments of the final set, the script flipped. Berrettini, who is known for his hammer-like forehand, used his backhand slice to force Ramos-Vinolas to play extra balls. And at 5-5 in the third set, the Spaniard made mistakes off those floating shots, missing an inside-out forehand to lose serve.
Berrettini closed out the match in the next game with a forehand drop shot, turning to his team and yelling “Vamos!” to celebrate. It was the World No. 8’s first victory in Cincinnati.