Challenger Surge Sends Berrettini To Top 100 Debut

  • Posted: Mar 24, 2018

Challenger Surge Sends Berrettini To Top 100 Debut

Mar242018

Berrettini: “I want to become the best person I can be”

Italians have long celebrated a rich history in tennis. From the prestigious Internazionali BNL d’Italia, a staple on the ATP World Tour for more than 80 years, to its legendary superstars including Adriano Panatta and Nicola Pietrangeli, it’s safe to say that il Tricolore has always deserved its place among the flags of great tennis nations.

But as the current generation of Italian stalwarts continues to age, the question remains: who will fly their proud flag in the future? Enter Matteo Berrettini. 

The 21-year-old Italian, who hails from Rome, has been surging on the ATP Challenger Tour over the past year, claiming his maiden title on home soil in San Benedetto in 2017 and a second crown in Bergamo in February. Add to that a final at the $150,000 Challenger event in Irving, Texas, last week and suddenly the young Italian finds himself blasting into the Top 100 of the ATP Rankings for the first time. He is youngest from his country to reach the milestone since Fabio Fognini in 2009.

“I’m really excited, because I have been dreaming about this since I was a child,” said Berrettini. “I started to play when I was seven and I was always thinking about it. But I’m here now and it’s not my final goal. I hope to work hard and improve a lot.”

The right-hander admits that although his game and his results have improved rapidly over the past year on the ATP Challenger Tour, it hasn’t always been smooth sailing. 

“Two years ago, I was injured for about six months. And one year ago I was outside the Top 400. I didn’t expect this to happen so fast,” he said. “I’m really happy and enjoying the moment … I’d like to just keep improving myself and my best ranking. That’s tennis. It’s a lot of work to do but I look forward to it.”

At 6’4”, Berrettini packs a predictably potent serve and booming forehand that sees his game more at home on hard courts than the clay courts that countrymen such as Fognini have made a name for themselves upon. He possesses versatility on his backhand wing and, alongside longtime coach Vicenzo Santopadre, has developed new elements in his game to help him make further inroads towards the top of the game. 

“My coach is a like a second father. We’ve been together for eight years. I spend more time with him than my own family,” teased Berrettini. “It’s not a joke because it’s important for me to spend a lot of time with him, in and outside of tennis. I’m glad that’s here with me always.

“We work hard every day on all my strokes. My serve and my forehand are my best weapons, but I have improved a lot with my backhand and my movement on the court,” said the Italian of his style of play. “I need to play more aggressive, in attack mode. I’m very tall and need to improve these kinds of things. I have to attack the point quickly, because I’m not the kind of player that likes to play too many strokes.”

The 2018 season has also seen Berrettini make progress on the ATP World Tour level. At the start of the season, he won his first tour-level match in Doha, coming from a set down to defeat Viktor Troicki after coming through qualifying. Weeks later, he played his first main draw at the Grand Slam.

Tour life appears to be coming along nicely for Berrettini, but even in the wake of recent successes, he manages to keep a level head.

“I’m here in the Top 100 now, but I don’t like to put too much pressure on myself with the ATP Rankings. I would like to improve myself and my tennis. I’m really happy to do this and play tennis around the world. I want to become the best person I can be.”

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