Berrettini, spring always brings with it a flurry of news. For the Roman, however, it’s a throwback.
The spring air didn’t do him much good in the previous two seasons. In both 2022 and 2023, he experienced the arrival of fine weather so badly that it is enough to take a little trip back in time to discover that the months of March and April were always particularly “black” for him.
Two years ago this time, Matteo Berrettini was stationary. He had played his last match at the Indian Wells Masters 1000, against Miomir Kecmanovic, and surrendered after three rather intense sets. He had raised the white flag, then, before the Miami Open, because of the hand problem that then famously prevented him from playing for several months. He was forced to undergo surgery and was only able to return to the court in June, coinciding with the start of his beloved grass season. He made a splash: he won first in Stuttgart, then at Queen’s, while he was unable to participate in his heart’s Slam, Wimbledon, because of Covid.
Even in 2023, as spring arrived, the Roman champion’s problems were coincidentally exacerbated. Amidst hardships and aches and pains he managed to close the season on cement, but the usual abdominal problem then forced him to withdraw, as will be remembered, in the middle of the Monte Carlo Masters 1000. Again, no Roland Garros. He played on the clay of the Principality two matches barely, then back home to rest. And on the return, in Stuttgart, it did not go, unfortunately, as everyone hoped.
Berrettini, damn spring
New year, new life, goes an old adage, so we can only hope that it will be so. Berrettini has every intention of making up for lost time, which is why he has planned every single stage to make sure he does what he has been unable to do for the past two years, for reasons beyond his control.
Playing on red clay, that is, which he has missed, as he admitted in an interview a few days ago. His path on clay will begin in Marrakech, on whose 250 tournament the curtain will rise on Easter Monday.
Caution is never too much, it is true, but it is undeniable that Matteo, with his head, is finally there. The experience at the Phoenix Challenger and the Miami Masters 1000 gave him, all things considered, some good satisfaction, as well as the knowledge that he is “on the ball.” Let’s hope, then, that the red can bring him some luck.
