“Shots to hurt Rafa were not working” Matteo Berrettini’s coach REVEALS what went wrong for the Italian against Rafael Nadal
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Rafael Nadal and Matteo Berrettini
Matteo Berrettini again had a good run at a Grand Slam competition when he reached the semi-finals of the 2022 Australian Open. This was the third semi-final appearance for Berrettini in Grand Slams and his first at Melbourne Park but could not go ahead to reach his second Grand Slam final as he was defeated by eventual champion Rafael Nadal.
Matteo had a gritty run in the Australian Open this year as apart from his straight-set 4th round win over Pablo Carreno Busta, he had to play at least 4-sets. After consecutive 4-set wins in the first two rounds, he won a thrilling 5-setter in the 3rd round against Carlos Alcaraz. He took down Gael Monfils in 4-sets to make the semi-finals where he was defeated by Nadal.
Nadal won the match 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in a nervy 2 hour and 55-minute battle to advance into the finals and become the first man to win the 21st Grand Slam title 2 days later. In a match where Berrettini had 38 winners to Nadal’s 28, the Italian had 39 unforced errors while Nadal in a disciplined performance made only 19 unforced errors.
“He struggled to get into the game, also because the shots he had to hurt Rafa with, like his serve and his forehand, weren’t working as well as other times because of the good work of the Spaniard. Tactically Rafa was perfect. In my opinion, it’s a question of experience, Matteo was in his third Grand Slam semi‐final and there was a legendary player in front of him,” said Berrettini’s coach Vincenzo Santopadre while speaking with OA Sport.
Matteo Berrettini achieves career high ranking
Berrettini’s semi-final run at the Australian Open this year has taken him to the 6th spot on the ATP rankings, his career highest ranking so far. He broke into the Top-10 in October 2019 and since then has remained in the Top-10 being ranked 9th and became the No. 8 the very next week. He dropped to 10th again but has not left the Top-10.
He was 7th at the start of the tournament and his run to the semi-finals has made him the new World No. 6 with 5278 points to his name. He trails the 5th seeded Nadal who has 6875 points. Berrettini will need some massive wins in the season ahead to break into the Top-5 and another big run at majors to break into the Top-3 with Alexander Zverev currently on the 3rd spot with 7780 points.
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