Matteo Berrettini


Matteo Berrettini is an Italian tennis player. Berrettini has a career high ATP singles ranking of world No. 8, achieved on 4 November 2019, and a career high ATP doubles ranking of world No. 105, achieved on 22 July 2019.

Tennis career

2017: ATP main draw debut

Berrettini made his ATP main draw debut at the Italian Open after earning a wildcard in the pre-qualifying wildcard tournament. He was defeated by Fabio Fognini in the first round. He was the top seed in the eight man Italian field competing for the final spot in the inaugural Next Generation ATP Finals in Milan. He lost to Filippo Baldi in straight sets.

2018: First ATP title

At the Swiss Open Gstaad, Berrettini won his first ATP title, defeating Roberto Bautista Agut in the final. He also won his first ATP doubles title at the same event, partnering Daniele Bracciali.

2019: Two more titles, Major semifinal, Top 10 debut

At the Hungarian Open, Berrettini won his second ATP singles title, beating Filip Krajinović in the final. Berretini continued his form into the following week as he reached the final at the Bavarian International Tennis Championships. There, his nine match winning streak ended as he was defeated by Cristian Garín in a third set tie-breaker. At the Italian Open, Berrettini upset Alexander Zverev in the round of 32 for his first ever win against a top 5 player.
Berrettini's development continued into the grass court season, winning his third singles title in Stuttgart, defeating Félix Auger-Aliassime in the final. During the tournament, Berrettini didn't lose a service game, thereby becoming only the fifth man since 1999 to win two tournaments without dropping serve. The following week, Berrettini reached his first ATP 500 semifinal at the Halle Open where he was defeated by David Goffin. Following the tournament, the Italian broke into the world's top 20.
As the 17th seed at Wimbledon, Berrettini reached the second week of a grand slam for the first time after defeating Diego Schwartzman in 5 sets in the third round. He lost his next match to 8 time champion Roger Federer comprehensively in 74 minutes. After congratulating Federer for his win during their post-match handshake, Berrettini jokingly asked Federer "Thanks for the tennis lesson, how much do I owe you?"
Berrettini withdrew from his next two events in Gstaad and Montreal, citing an ankle injury. He managed to play one lead up tournament in Cincinnati before competing in the final Grand Slam of the year – the US Open. There, despite his lack of competitive preparation, Berettini managed to reach his first Major quarter final after defeating Andrey Rublev in the fourth round. In the quarterfinals, he beat Gaël Monfils in a fifth set tiebreak to become the first Italian man to reach the US Open semifinals since 1977. Berrettini's run ended in the semifinals against Rafael Nadal in straight sets after he was unable to capitalize on two set points in the opening set tiebreaker.
Pursuing an ATP Finals berth, Berrettini achieved his best Masters result yet at the Shanghai Masters by reaching the semifinals. Along the way Berrettini claimed his second career top 5 victory by beating Dominic Thiem in the quarterfinals. Another semifinal appearance, this time at the Vienna Open, saw Berrettini break into the worlds top ten. As world number 8, Berrettini claimed the final spot in the season ending championships in London. There, he lost his opening two round robin matches to Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, before becoming the first Italian man to win a match at the event by defeating Dominic Thiem.

Playing style

Berrettini is an aggressive all-court player known for his strong serve and forehand. His primary weapon is his forehand, known for its immense speed, spin and depth. He also possesses a strong serve, capable of reaching up to 230km/h. Berrettini focuses on setting up quick points and hitting winners with aggressive play and putting pressure on his opponent. His transitional and net game are also integral parts of his game to finish off points, and he has even been known to serve-and-volley. His aggressive game grounded in huge serves and forehands have led to many comparing him to Fernando Gonzalez and Juan Martin Del Potro.
Despite having a weaker and less consistent backhand wing, Berrettini makes up for it with a strong backhand slice, capable of neutralizing aggression and keeping the ball low, which cause trouble for his opponents and allow for him to set up aggressive forehands. He has good disguise on the dropshot on both wings as well, often following it up by approaching the net.
Berrettini's weaknesses are his defensive game and inconsistency. He suffers most when put under pressure by opponents and is forced to defend on the run, especially when attacked on the backhand wing. Prior to 2019, Berrettini's inconsistency was also a major obstacle to his success, though it has shown signs of improvement since. However, drops in mental focus and his naturally aggressive game still lead to many winners, but also unforced errors in matches.

Personal life

Born in Rome to Luca and Claudia Bigo, Matteo Berrettini has a younger brother, Jacopo, also a tennis player. His maternal grandmother Lucia Fogaça is a Brazilian from Rio de Janeiro. His paternal grandfather is from Florence. He is in a relationship with Australian tennis player Ajla Tomljanović.

Performance timelines

Singles

Current through the 2020 Australian Open.

ATP career finals

Singles: 4 (3 titles, 1 runner-up)

ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScore
Win1–02018 Swiss Open Gstaad – Singles|Swiss Open, SwitzerlandClay
Win2–02019 Hungarian Open – Singles|Hungarian Open, Hungary250 SeriesClay Filip Krajinović4–6, 6–3, 6–1
Loss2–1May 2019Bavarian Championships, Germany250 SeriesClay Cristian Garín1–6, 6–3, 6–7
Win3–12019 MercedesCup – Singles|Stuttgart Open, Germany250 SeriesGrass Félix Auger-Aliassime6–4, 7–6

Doubles: 3 (2 titles, 1 runner-up)

ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Win1–02018 Swiss Open Gstaad – Doubles|Swiss Open, Switzerland250 SeriesClay Daniele Bracciali Denys Molchanov
Igor Zelenay		7–6, 7–6
Win2–02018 St. Petersburg Open – Doubles|St. Petersburg Open, Russia250 SeriesHard Fabio Fognini Roman Jebavý
Matwé Middelkoop		7–6, 7–6
Loss2–12019 St. Petersburg Open – Doubles|St. Petersburg Open, Russia250 SeriesHard Simone Bolelli Divij Sharan
Igor Zelenay		3–6, 6–3,

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals

Singles: 12 (5 titles, 7 runner–ups)

ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScore
Loss0–1ITF Antalya, Turkey F36FuturesHard Matija Pecotić7–6, 6–7, 2–6
Win1–1ITF Santa Margherita Di Pula, Italy F30FuturesClay Andrea Basso4–6, 6–3, 6–3
Loss1–2ITF Reggio Emilia, Italy F28FuturesClay Stefano TravagliaWalkover
Loss1–32016 Internazionali di Tennis Castel del Monte – Singles|Andria International, ItalyChallengerCarpet Luca Vanni7–5, 0–6, 3–6
Win2–3ITF Oberentfelden, Switzerland F1FuturesCarpet Laurent Lokoli6–2, 6–4
Loss2–42017 International Challenger Quanzhou – Singles|Quanzhou Challenger, ChinaChallengerHard Thomas Fabbiano6–7, 6–7
Win3–42017 San Benedetto Tennis Cup – Singles|San Benedetto Cup, ItalyChallengerClay Laslo Đere6–3, 6–4
Loss3–52017 Tilia Slovenia Open – Singles|Slovenia Open Portorož, SloveniaChallengerHard Sergiy Stakhovsky7–6, 6–7, 3–6
Loss3–62017 Amex-Istanbul Challenger – Singles|Istanbul Challenger, TurkeyChallengerHard Malek Jaziri6–7, 6–0, 5–7
Win4–62018 Trofeo Faip–Perrel – Singles|Trofeo Faip-Perrel Bergamo, ItalyChallengerHard Stefano Napolitano6–2, 3–6, 6–2
Loss4–72018 Irving Tennis Classic – Singles|Irving Classic, USAChallengerHard Mikhail Kukushkin2–6, 6–3, 1–6
Win5–72019 Arizona Tennis Classic – Singles|Arizona Classic Phoenix, USAChallengerHard Mikhail Kukushkin3–6, 7–6, 7–6

Doubles: 5 (4 titles, 1 runner–up)

ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Win1–0ITF Antalya, Turkey F12FuturesHard Filippo Baldi Edoardo Eremin
Lorenzo Sonego		6–7, 6–2,
Loss1–1ITF Santa Margherita Di Pula, Italy F9FuturesClay Filippo Baldi Pietro Licciardi
Pietro Rondoni		6–3, 4–6,
Win2–1ITF Santa Margherita Di Pula, Italy F30FuturesClay Andrea Pellegrino Filippo Baldi
Gianluca Naso		Walkover
Win3–1ITF Trieste, Italy F27FuturesClay Jacopo Stefani Florian Fallert
Tobias Simon		7–6, 6–3
Win4–1ITF Reggio Emilia, Italy F28FuturesClay Jacopo Stefani Andrea Pellegrino
Andrea Vavassori		6–3, 7–6

Record against top 10 players

Berrettini's match record against those who have been ranked in the top 10, with those who have been No. 1 in boldface.
Season20152016201720182019Total
Wins000066