Matteo Berrettini experienced the best moment of his career between 2021 and 2022, when he reached the final at the Wimbledon Championships (lost to Novak Djokovic in four sets) and several semifinals in the other Majors. Roland Garros is the only Grand Slam tournament in which the Italian ace has never reached the semifinals.
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Injuries have greatly affected Matteo's performance in recent years, forcing him to miss several tournaments and play without being in top form. The former world No.6 has regained consistency in the past twelve months, lifting three trophies in 2024 (albeit in second-tier tournaments) and returning to the Top 30 of the ATP rankingthis year.
The 28-year-old from Rome is playing excellent tennis at this time of the season, as evidenced by the quarterfinals reached in both Doha and Dubai. In the prestigious ATP 500 in Qatar, the current world number 29 took away the added satisfaction of beating a legend like Novak Djokovic in the first round.
Berrettini is too strict with himself
In addition to being a great tennis player, Matteo is recognized by everyone as a truly wonderful and intelligent guy who is able to express deep thoughts.
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The 2021 Wimbledon finalist was recently a guest on the 'Tintoria' podcast hosted by Stefano Rapone and Daniele Tinti in which he said that he often tends to be too strict with himself while playing.
"I have always treated others better than I treat myself. I think this approach has allowed me to get to certain levels, so I'm afraid to attenuate this part of me" explained Berrettini.
"A sport like tennis is always full of excuses and justifications when you lose. I was taught that you should never look for alibis, you have to be a robot.
The person I hate the most when I play is me, I should forgive myself more" - he added.
Matteo played a decisive role at the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga last year, allowing Italy to lift the trophy for the second year in a row.
