Berrettini, now it’s official: there’s no good news for the former Italian number 1. Matteo was right all along
He could have claimed his role in the Italian national team and taken the court to give his teammates a helping hand. But no. Matteo Berrettini preferred to forgo playing in the Davis Cup rather than force recovery time and risk his ankle problem becoming even more acute.
A huge sacrifice for an athlete like him, inextricably linked to the Italtennis jersey and a compass for the entire lineup. As well as dutiful, as if that were not enough, since at stake was his return to the circuit after several months of absence due to the injury in question. But now, finally, it’s here. The Roman tennis player, who parted ways with his longtime coach and began working with his new coach Francisco Roig on Tuesday morning, is ready to get back on the scene and take back all that fate has taken from him. With a slew of obstacles, however, to get around along this already very long and winding road.
Berrettini knew well, in light of the hemorrhaging of points triggered by his long absence, that climbing back up the ladder would not be easy. He also knew that his current ranking would be a problem, tournament-wise and Slam-wise. And he was unfortunately right across the board, as is clear from the news that has circulated in the past few hours.
Berrettini, access forbidden: you enter from the back
The Roman hammer has announced that he will be in Brisbane at the end of December and that he will do everything he can to get into the main draw of the Atp 250. Being currently ranked 92nd in the Atp rankings, he will in fact have to go through the qualifiers in order for his name to eventually be included in the main draw.
Should he make it-the qualifiers are scheduled for Dec. 29 and 30-his path will officially begin on the last day of the year, when the curtain rises on the Atp 250 in Brisbane. Should he land a spot in the main draw, he will then be up against several prized tennis players who, like him, will be passing through the Queensland capital to stretch their legs before Australian Open time rolls around.
Holger Rune will be there, but Grigor Dimitrov, Ben Shelton, Matteo Arnaldi, Ugo Humbert, Sebastian Korda, and Sebastian Baez have also signed up. And there will be, above all, Nadal, who despite having lost like Berrettini a lot of points, due to a long stop, got a wild card as a result of which he is already in the main draw. The importance of being called Rafael…
