Matteo Berrettini he found his beloved grass and even a bit of a smile, despite having had to fight for almost three hours to get the better of the Russian Roman Safiullin, seeded number 8 in the Boss Open in Stuttgart. In his umpteenth season of stops, starts, satisfactions (victory in Marrakech) and disappointments (defeat in the 1st round of the Masters 1000 in Monte Carlo) Matteo is looking for a bit of sporting serenity on what has so far proven to be the surface of dreams fulfilled, just think of the final reached at Wimbledon in 2021 and the four titles, out of the eight in total on the board, won on the lawns.
Berrettini, now Shapovalov
At the end of the match with Safiullin the Italian said he had no energy and expressed the hope of not being put back on the program today. He was satisfied because he will return to the match tomorrow against the Canadian left-handed Denis Shapovalov, who stopped the French Martineau’s run in two hard-fought sets. Among the positive notes of the debut match of the former world no. 6, the 27 aces scored in total which represented the personal best, having adjusted the previous one of 25, over the distance of two sets out of three: «I had no energy left after not playing for two months – commented Berrettini hotly – and I’m very proud of the way I fought throughout the match. But having not played for so long I didn’t expect anything different. Staying there, being focused, having fun: even more than being back here I’m happy to have won. The physiotherapist worked to ensure that I could be in the best possible shape: the first is done, now let’s think about the second. I found so much support here: everyone stopping me, smiling at me, everything was very nice. Already when I won in 2019 the crowd was cheering for me». Matteo then repeated himself in 2022 and also yesterday demonstrated that his grass tennis always has great potential. The first half saw the two not granting themselves break points, with the consequent decision in the tie-break where the Roman went ahead 5-2, was caught again and closed on the 3rd useful set point. The second set took the “Russian” direction in the final part. Break by Safiullin, who had won the only previous match dated 2017 and played in the Shenzhen Challenger, and partial victory in the 12th game. The blue did well to stay in the match in the decisive set, with several break points cancelled. In the end it was he who closed the game on the third match point, with a forehand into the net from his rival. Now Matteo will have to reverse course against the Canadian who won in the previous two, both played on the fast indoor track in 2018 (St. Petersburg) and 2019 (Davis Cup Finals in Madrid). He will have a day to recover and savor the taste of winning shots again, the ones that made him known on the circuit as “the hammer”. The mobility is not yet that of the best days but the grass helps to mask the problem, the victories, which hopefully will continue, too.
