Matteo Berrettini parades in the bowels of the Martin Carpena with flip-flops and still breathing a little labored. I just came back to Kokkinakis and make Italy’s first move in a draw, against Australia, which soon after sealed Fisherman. Matteo removes the last traces of sweat from his face and speaks to OKDIARIO less than 24 hours before playing the final of the Davis Cup from which Nadal and Spain fell before their time.
“It was a match as intense as it was important,” sums up the Italian, finding his tennis again on the fast Carpena court. His game is no secret. It revolves around his powerful serve and powerful forehand. This is how she gained ground until becoming the sixth best racket on the circuit in 2022 and thus she broke the resistance of Australia in general and the Kokkinakis in particular at Davis.
He has regained his spark and once again shines with vigor on the demanding hard court. Berrettini deciphers it well, which He thus emerges from the void in which he found himself physically and emotionally.. Injuries have affected his tennis since the pandemic. He battled coronavirus, an oblique injury, an ankle injury during the 2023 US OPen, and went under the knife to resolve his wrist problem.
The same one released in Malaga. He suffers on the contrary, but he has a cannon on the serve and on the forehand which attenuates it. “I hope I can enjoy Sunday on the track again.” His presence seemed a mystery before the tournament, but enters the imagination facing the final after winning the Argentine duo in doubles and the Australian duo in singles.
In the final he will face Holland, Nadal will not be there, as he would have liked. “Rafa was an example for my career and that of many other tennis players. His attitude, his desire to come back stronger after each fall… What he did in his career was impressive. It’s not easy to come back after so many injuries, I know that very well from experience. Well done Rafa.
Nadal the bull
The Italian faced Nadal twice, both on hard courts and all leaning towards the Spanish side. During the last one, in the semi-final of Australian Open In 2022, he won a set. More than he could have achieved as the final of the US Open 2019, when he released his face to face with the Balearic Islands.
“Playing against Rafa is something exciting and at the same time very intense on a physical and mental level. You notice that you are playing against someone who has infinite energy. I remember that US Open semi-final against him. I played very well and still lost the first set. I remember my team told me ‘you’re a bull’ and in the third set of that match I looked at them and said ‘I think he’s the bull‘. Nadal has always had incredible energy for everything. In tennis, in golf… in everything.
Berrettini, ten years younger than Rafa, grew up watching the Balearics’ exploits glued to a screen, even if he sometimes wished his matches were over. “It was very small. In Italy there was a cartoon channel and Rafa was playing against Coria. It was an incredible match, but also very long and I wanted to see cartoons», said the Italian between two laughs.
“But ultimately, look where life has taken me. To play against Rafa, participate in the tournament in which he retires and see up close everything he has done during his career. “I’m very lucky for that,” admits Matteo, who won the most important match of his sporting career this Sunday. The Davis Cup final against Australia, during which he will try to be the bulleither.
