Sinner and Berrettini, because the Australia Open is already a crucial junction for the two Azzurri – Corriere.it

uLatest sure news: Jannik Sinner in Alicante to take advantage of the concrete outdoors, Matteo Berrettini between Monte Carlo and Barcelona, both ready to show up at the gate for their flight to Australia. Davis’ two teammates, who have never faced each other in their career, must redeem the ups and downs of a season in 2023 that saw them fall back in the standings: Jannik, who had started the year top 10, restarts number 15 in the world,
The team
2022 awards him the most disappointing Oscar despite the quarterfinals achieved in three out of four Grand Slams (plus the Umag title, an Atp 250 with the noble scalp of Alcaraz); Matteo follows closely from number 16, at the end of January he was number 6then the operation on my finger, Covid in London, foot edema, bad thoughts (There were moments when I thought: I’ll stop forever), two titles despite everything (Stuttgart and Queen’s, noantri herbivore ).

The parallel lives of Sinner and Berrettini (with the difference that the South Tyrolean travels five years, four months and four days before the Roman) immediately lead to the same junction: at the Australian Open Jannik defends a quarter-final, Matteo even a semi-final, meaning 360 and 720 points which in a short ranking in which two formidable class of 2003 broke in (Alcaraz capable of tearing apart the US Open at 19 and Rune capable of beating Djokovic in the final of a Master 1000) can create considerable upheaval. In short, there is no time to get in shape: the new season immediately asks the strongest Italian tennis players to pay two very heavy bills. The block of winter work done so far (Sinner stopped in Paris indoors, Berrettini allowed himself Davis’ digressions in Malaga and the rich exhibition in Saudi Arabia) the architrave on which to build the first part of the year, strewn with traps.

Sinner starts from the ATP 250 in Adelaide (starting on January 2)the hometown of coach Darren Cahill, who went to the Riviera to personally wish Riccardo Piatti for Christmas, confirming the excellent relationship between Pygmalion and Jannik’s mentor, the boy called to become a man. Berrettini has chosen the newborn United Cup for his seasonal debut, a mixed tournament that starts on December 29, 18 teams divided into six groups of three: together with Lorenzo Musetti, Martina Trevisan and Lucia Bronzetti, he will look for the right timing on the ball and, above all, that continuity of performance which he has lacked in recent years. Matteo’s fragility, as well as the twists and turns of existence, is entrusted to the hands of Squadrone (physical trainer) and Punzano (osteopath), the two guardian angels who will have to keep him as far as possible from the infirmary.

The rest of the world, of course, doesn’t stand idly by. King Alcaraz must repel the onslaught of the old guard (Nadal than in Melbourne reigning champions and Djokovic that comes back down under equipped with a visa twelve months after the international diplomatic case caused by his reluctance to the anti-Covid vaccine), of the nouvelle vague (Ruud two-time Grand Slam and Masters finalist, Alissime very fast up to Turin, Fritz and Tiafoe in search of the last qualitative leap, Rune exploded with a crash) and of that middle ground in which, so far, the revolution has slipped through its fingers (Tsitsipas publicly bullied by family, Medvedev who stopped in New York 2021, Zverev just returned from the terrible injury in Paris, the ankle cracking).
For all these reasons, 2023 will be crucial for Sinner and Berrettini. Almost a year after the sensational break with Piatti, Jannik must find a balance with the Vagnozzi-Cahill duo and make the investment of the double coach more productive. In the 27th birthday season, in a court subjected to violent centripetal forces of rejuvenation, Matteo forced to prove that the train did not pass. Two made in Italy challenges to follow with passion.