Matteo Berrettini missed Wimbledon 2022 due to covid-19. This year, too, he was about to throw in the towel – due to a stomach injury – but it didn’t happen.
— This place has something special. I feel some kind of energy that I don’t feel anywhere else, he says.
Since before, the injured Italian has also been missing due to an injured hand and this spring he missed the French Championships for the second year in a row.
On Monday, he faces world number one Carlos Alcaraz in the fourth round of this year’s edition.
— When I came here, I wasn’t even sure that I would be able to play. I didn’t think I was ready. But I’ve missed so many competitions in recent years so I felt I can’t miss this one too, says Berrettino and continues:
— I have spent so many days crying in my bed, worried about not being able to play for several days in a row. So if they told me a couple of weeks ago that I could play five days in a row at Wimbledon, I would have signed with my blood.
On his way to the fourth round, Berrettini has among other things knocked out the 21st-ranked German Alexander Zverev and the Australian Alex de Minaur, placed 17 in the world ranking.