Berrettini can do nothing, Alcaraz goes to the quarterfinals. Today it’s up to Sinner
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With the Carlos Alcaraz that we all know by now – overflowing, from a physical point of view and the quality of the game – Matteo Berrettini lost in four sets 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 giving the world number one a lot of thoughts. And definitively erasing the bad memories of the injuries and the prolonged stop with a beautiful performance.
The progress of the match
Berrettini began by playing aggressively, with great depth and incisiveness from the baseline (even with a backhand) with an opponent who struggled to measure him up. An approach that led to the decisive break to win the first set at 4-3 in his favor. But then Alcaraz changed gears, he managed to respond better and better by defusing his opponent’s strongest weapon (46 points won in return, against the Italian’s 30), he surprised Matteo with short balls alternating with forehand trips, he has recovered balls that seemed lost in the eyes of anyone, not to someone who has his legs: on the pitch he moves like a cat, he is everywhere, and when he comes running he manages to control the shot turning it into a winner. Berrettini resisted with great pride, holding on to serve, but the intensity shown in the first set gradually faded away. He no longer gave the feeling of being able to reverse the result, not even when some cracks could have been opened (as in the opening of the fourth set, with a 0-30 in his favor due to two double faults by the Spaniard). At times it was a match of the highest level, to the delight of the large crowd.
Positive balance sheet
“I’m proud of what I’ve done for a thousand reasons,” said the Roman tennis player in the post-match press conference, expressly citing the difficulties of recent months that have overwhelmed him, causing him to slip to 38th place in the standings: “Everything told me to stop, I had no certainties, I had no confidence, I had no match on my legs, we don’t know where the body was…. it would have been easier to stay at home and instead I chose the more difficult path and this is the thing I am most proud of and which will also be important for the future”. With the three Wimbledon victories (against Sonego, De Minaur and Zverev), Berrettini will rise seven positions in the ATP ranking.
And now?
First of all there is Sinner against Safiullin, the Russian number 92 in the world: a match well within the reach of the Italian (seeded for number eight) who is worth a place in the semifinals. Alcaraz will meet Holger Rune who knocked out Grigor Dimitrov in four hard-fought sets. And then there’s him, silently advancing, Nole Djokovic: having got rid of Hubert Hurkacz, he will challenge Andrey Rublev. Finally, Daniil Medvedev will face the other surprise of this tournament, Christopher Eubanks: Tsitsipas won
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