Is Matteo Berrettini the biggest threat to Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon 2021 ?

Italy’s Matteo Berrettini is one of the form players on the ATP tour for 2021. He has a 27/7 win/loss record for the season till now. After starting well in Melbourne in a warm-up event, he went onto achieve great success on the European clay.

He won 14 matches on the dirt and only lost four. In the process, he also won the title in Belgrade and even made the quarterfinals of French Open, where he lost to the eventual winner Novak Djokovic.

Onto the grass courts, last week he displayed how efficient he can be on the lawns by winning the title in Queen’s. The Italian is seeded seventh for the upcoming Wimbledon Championships and is already being billed as one of the dark horses. It is also clear that Berrettini will not meet the top three—Djokovic, Medvedev and Tsitsipas before the quarterfinals. It is also understood, that the Italian can only meet the Serb in the finals.

With Rafael Nadal out of the tournament and Roger Federer struggling for form, Berrettini might fancy his chances to make a deep run at Wimbledon. That said, the World No.1 Djokovic will likely stand in his way.

Matteo Berrettini’s weapons

Given Berrettini’s recent form, the 25-year-old has the ammunition to stun the Serb. That said, it is a very low probability event for a couple of reasons.

As we have seen in the past, the grass of Wimbledon has seen many shocking results in the first week of the tournament. From Nadal, Federer to Murray, we have seen the top guys fall in the initial stages. Therefore, Berrettini too will need to be mindful of not falling into the trap of an early round exit.

While the Italian’s big serve and forehand can destroy most opponents on grass, his chances of grind out a tough win against five-time winner Djokovic (in a potential final) is very minimal. Besides returning the ball well, Djokovic will also keep the ball low to the backhand of Berrettini, which will trouble the lanky player at regular intervals.

But perhaps, the most important factor will be that of Djokovic’s belief and mental fortitude, which was once again on display in the quarterfinals of the 2021 French Open, when the duo met last time. Let us also not forget that, Djokovic has lost only once in the finals of Wimbledon.

Also read: Wimbledon 2021: Men’s Singles Draw Preview and Prediction