«Here I feel happy»- Corriere.it

He trained little, it took very little to preserve the abs that he caressed all yesterday (“Not exactly the ideal preparation for a Grand Slam tournament…”), but it did cleanse of negative thoughts: «In Stuttgart I was emotionally blocked, I can’t even explain how. I wasn’t ready for Queen’s: I cancelled. But I wanted to be at Wimbledon, this is the place of the heart. My desire to play is much higher than my form but here, regardless of the result, I’m happy».

The (re)construction of a top 10 passes (also) from self-remembering. At Wimbledon Matteo Berrettini, brilliant finalist in 2021 with that Djokovic who this morning finds Wawrinka in the center in the challenge vintage among dinosaurs (74 years in two), it was experienced in the bubble of joy of a magical summer, the same as the European title of Roberto Mancini’s Italy. Since the body no longer responded to orders (withdrawals in Acapulco and Montecarlo, Rome skipped for the second consecutive year), the herbivore of the Nuovo Salario has come in search of old sensations on the green, he looks for them among the blades of grass, yesterday he found one, small but precious, against his friend Sonegobeaten in four sets and 72 hours due to the rain: “Just a few days ago I didn’t think it was possible…”.

The match, freeze-dried by the bad weather, doesn’t make much sense and Matteo knows it (“Playing like this, in pieces, my body didn’t get too much stress”), today the crossing with the Australian De Minaur, a real kangaroo and not a tarot, represents a completely different challenge, however, the search with the old Berrettini’s lantern doc, the champion who fell from n.6 to n.38 in the ranking in 17 months, requires patience and dilated times, it is useless to expect to find nitroglycerin in his arm from morning to night. But daring, forcing yourself to London after the disconsolate tears of Stuttgart, is paying off: “I forced myself to be there, it was worth it: now I’m fine”.

The atmosphere of the ancient and special tournament that the young Musetti is getting to know (eight games, including various spells, left to the Spanish Munar but now there is the Hurkacz obstacle) and which after 146 years it clears black underwear for ladies (exultation of menstruating players, such as No. 4 Pegula: «Going to Wimbledon and having to worry about menstruation is the worst feeling in the world!») is the balm for the soul of the Roman who hasn’t collected a Grand Slam victory since Last year’s US Open (out in the quarterfinals with Ruud, the finalist from Paris swept away yesterday on the center by the enfant du pays Broady).

De Minaur is seeded no.15 the second bead of a lay rosary that Matteo opens with his eyes shining again and the lightness of someone who now has little to lose: «He is confident, this year he has pocketed many more victories than me. But I know I have the tennis to beat him.” It must be found, together with another shred of Berrettini who was, the finalist who in 2021 had praised the role of ex-girlfriend Ajla Tomljanovic and this year is accompanied by Melissa Satta (increasingly present in the tennis player’s choices): «We go forward point by point, without looking too far. It is unreal to have passed the first round of a tournament in which I was one step away from retiring». Happiness better than any workout. The alchemy of Wimbledon takes care of the rest.