“Matteo Berrettini reminds me of Roger Federer” says Federer’s coach and former World No. 3 Ivan Ljubicic
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Matteo Berrettini and Roger Federer
World No. 7 Matteo Berrettini is one of the biggest talents to come from the new generation of Italian players who are looking to get Italy on the top in tennis. Berrettini has been fairly consistent and finished as the runner-up at the 2021 Wimbledon Championships losing to defending champion for 2 years, Novak Djokovic, in a 4-setter.
The Italian has won 2 titles this season, the 2021 Serbian Open and then went on to become the first Italian and also the first player since Boris Becker to win the coveted Queen’s Club Championships on their debut and carried his success at Wimbledon as well, becoming the first Italian to reach the finals of Wimbledon in the Open Era and first Italian man to reach a Grand Slam finals since 1976.
His consistent performances have seen him break into the Top-10 and receive praise from many former players and legends of the game. Appreciating the talents of the Italian and his technique, former World No. 3 and the current coach of Roger Federer, Ivan Ljubicic recently heaped praise on Matteo and talked about how he looks at the future of Italian in the coming years.
“Berrettini is going to win a Grand Slam. He is perfect, does everything right. He reminds me of Roger Federer for how deeply he analyzes things,” Ivan said drawing a huge comparison between his protege and Matteo after he came very close to his major Grand Slam title at the Wimbledon this year.
Matteo Berrettini well in contention for the ATP Finals this year in Turin
Apart from the 2021 Australian Open where Matteo had to withdraw from the tournament due to abdominal pain, in the other 3 Slams, it was Novak who defeated Berrettini. Djokovic defeated him in 4-sets in all their meetings, quarter-finals of the 2021 French Open and the 2021 US Open and then in the finals of Wimbledon, reaching the last-8 of all Slams this year.
However, owing to his consistency and he is currently one of the favourites to be one of the eight players who will compete in the ATP Finals to be held in Turin this year. While Novak, 2021 US Open winner Daniil Medvedev and runner-up at the 2021 French Open, Stefanos Tstisipas have qualified for the finals, 5 more spots are still to be filled and Matteo is surely one of the contenders to claim a spot.
Matteo has not returned to the ATP Tour this week after the Tour took a halt for a week after the finals of the US Open, the Italian will be seen in action at the upcoming 2021 Laver Cup which is set to begin from 24th September in the TD Garden, Boston making his debut for the Team Europe in the competition.
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Sarthak Shitole
(3462 Articles Published)