“I’ve put my heart aside, I’m not ready and I risk getting hurt”

His is a lightning press conference, and a surprise one. Because just two days ago Matteo Berrettini he said he could play the International at the Foro Italico, the tournament that made him fall in love with tennis. «But then – he says, visibly dark-faced – I put my heart aside to do what is right for me. I tried to do everything as I said, but I’m not ready to compete and I won’t be able to play: I would risk getting hurt and that’s the last thing I want. I feel like I’ve already experienced this situation, it’s a bit strange. I wanted to communicate it here and not via social media since we are at home. I hope that 2025 will be a good year for Rome.”

Berrettini, Paris goal

«It’s difficult to say when I’ll be ready, I hope before Paris – he explains Berrettini -. I need to train, come back with rhythm and with the right steps to take when you stop for a while. I’m not far from returning, but I’m not ready for tomorrow. I took something that debilitated me a lot, between medicines and what I had to do to treat myself. If it’s not possible for me to be on the pitch for 3 hours, then rest a day and play for another 3 hours, it’s right that I don’t do it. The positive message is that nothing is broken, there is only great sadness because it is the tournament that made me choose to do this job.” In short, no derby in the first round with Napolitano: in his place the American lucky loser Jeffrey John Wolf.

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