Berrettini, one less burden to carry on his shoulders: by now, the Roman hammer has only that on his mind.
In a few weeks it will be exactly 6 months since Matteo Berrettini last set foot on a tennis court to play as part of an Atp tournament. It was August, he was in New York, and he was fighting to gain access to the third round of the star-studded Slam. Third round to which he famously never made it.
While playing against Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech, the Roman’s ankle bent. From that moment on, a real ordeal began. It was certainly not the first injury of his career – the 2021 Wimbledon finalist has, in this regard, quite a troubled history – but he really did not expect to be out of action for so long. Which is neither good for his physique nor, much less, for his spirit. Especially because every time he is about to return his foot suddenly starts acting up again and forces him to postpone his return.
Now, in theory, Matteo could finally be ready. Only at this point, with the six-month mark off the circuit now on the horizon, he might as well be patient a little longer. After that time, he could take advantage of the protected ranking and effortlessly move up the rankings: benefiting from it, he would restart from 35th place in the Atp rankings, which would give him a not inconsiderable advantage in the upcoming events in which he will take part.
Berrettini got rid of it: one less burden
Not that Berrettini likes to win easy, mind you. But if there’s one thing he needs right now, it’s to believe. To believe that everything, after everything has fallen apart, can go a little better than it has so far.
He doesn’t set big goals. They are all very realistic, indeed, because he knows very well, the Roman hammer, how difficult it will be to get back into the game after this very long absence. “The main goal,” he told Gazzetta dello Sport on the sidelines of the meeting with Mattarella, “is not to have any more of these stops that are massacring me, not only the body but above all the mind.
“I have good feelings for the future,” he added, reassuring fans, “This is the time when I feel the least pressure in years, I am only thinking about having fun and not about the result. I feel good even if I’m still not 100 percent, but rest assured: we will see each other on the field.” The not too veiled reference to the pressures he has been under over the years speaks volumes about how much he has suffered from the weight of expectations and criticism he has received. And who knows that in the end, having savored freedom again, this stop might not have served to reset his brain and get going again at full speed.