Wimbledon was a memorable tournament for Matteo Berrettini this year as he reached his first Grand Slam singles final. That may be the first of many appearances in major finals for the Italian who has a game which is improving fast.
The 25-year-old is now up to number eight in the world rankings. It has been an excellent few months for him on the ATP Tour. He showed his liking for the grass surface with victory at the Queen’s Club Championship prior to Wimbledon. He was the number one seed for that tournament and he showed why with some excellent performances.
The win in London was his first ATP 500 tournament success. It is unlikely to be his last grass-court title. It was maybe fitting that he defeated Andy Murray on the way to the trophy at Queen’s Club. The former Wimbledon champion has been one of the best grass-court players of the last decade but perhaps that baton has now been handed to the Italian.
Although he showcased his skills on grass well over the last two months, Berrettini will also be relishing the hard court season. He has had a lot of success on hard courts so there could be more titles in 2021.
Berrettini is 18/1 in the tennis betting to win the US Open in 2021, his next Grand Slam tournament opportunity. He reached the semi-final at Flushing Meadows in 2019 where he was beaten by the eventual winner Rafael Nadal.
Big Serve Is A Huge Weapon
The Wimbledon runner-up has developed one of the best serves on the ATP, which is helping him pick up a lot of points. Not only does it carry high pace, but his varied approach during the grass-court season made it difficult to read for his opponents.
Berrettini is much more than just his big serve. What it does do, though, is ensure he wins a lot of fast points. This takes the pressure off his service game and at the same time puts pressure on his opponent to follow.
Only Alexander Bablik has hit more aces in the men’s ATP Tour than Berrettini in 2021. The Italian was ranked 34th on the list in 2020 so that’s a clear sign of how he has worked on his serve and is getting the results for that work.
Experience Of Wimbledon Defeat Will Help
Berrettini will be hoping to follow Djokovic by winning his second Grand Slam final. The Serbian was beaten in his maiden major final when he lost in the 2007 US Open to Roger Federer. He did not wait long for his first success as he prevailed in the 2008 Australian Open.
The experience gained in that final against the world number one will help the man from Rome. He really pushed the 20-time Grand Slam winner in the opening stages, with the opening set going his way following a tie-breaker.
Berrettini now knows what to expect the next time he reaches a Grand Slam final. He was unlucky to bump into Djokovic at his best and he will be aware it was the toughest challenge in the sport at the moment.
We can expect to see a lot more of the Italian at the latter stages of big tournaments now. He is also one of the players most likely to win a maiden Grand Slam title next.
