Matteo Berrettini embraces packed schedule in the opening months of 2020
Matteo Berrettini kicked off the 2019 season with 19 ATP wins and from outside the top-50, finishing it in the top-8 and with the ATP Finals debut! The Rome native is hoping for more of the same in 2020, embracing a busy schedule in the opening two months as he aims to play five tournaments on both hard and clay. Matteo will lead Italy at the ATP Cup before heading to Melbourne for the first Major of the season, eager to make a deep run after losing to Stefanos Tsitsipas in the opening round in January. In February, Berrettini will fight for the title in Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro on clay before heading north to enter the ATP 500 event in Acapulco ahead of the first Masters 1000 tournaments of the season in the USA. In October, Matteo became the 169th player to crack the top-10 on the ATP ranking list since 1973, joining Adriano Panatta, Corrado Barazzutti and Fabio Fognini as the fourth Italian on the exclusive list despite a slow start of the year.
The Rome native shifted into a higher gear during the spring swing and maintained a high level to find himself among the best players in the world and book place at the ATP Finals. Matteo couldn't make any progress until the last week of April, which makes this feat even more impressive, dropping nine of the first 15 ATP matches and remaining in the top-60 thanks to a strong Challenger title in Phoenix where he earned 125 points between early exits at Indian Wells and Miami. Heading to Budapest with a negative streak of five losses on the Tour, Matteo found his 'A game' when he needed it the most, overcoming a deficit in the final against Filip Krajinovic to lift the second ATP title that couldn't come in the better moment. Next week, Berrettini played on a high level in Munich as well, losing a tight final to Cristian Garin but earning enough points to crack the top-35 and continue his rise through the list.
Defeating Alexander Zverev in the second round, Matteo advanced into the last 16 at home in Rome and went to Stuttgart as the top-30 player, delivering incredible tennis to storm over five opponents and lift the second crown of the season after facing two break points in the entire week! David Goffin halted the Italian in the semi-final in Halle before that terrible loss to Roger Federer in the fourth round at Wimbledon, taking some time off and returning stronger at the US Open where he used the favorable draw to notch the first Major semi-final, ousted by Rafael Nadal in straight sets despite a solid effort in the opening two sets.
With two more top-10 triumphs under his belt in Shanghai, Berrettini reached the semi-final to move another step closer to the top-10, setting path to crack the elite group with the semi-final run in Vienna following triumphs over Kyle Edmund, Grigor Dimitrov and Andrey Rublev, picking up 180 ATP points and staying in contention for the London berth. That dream was almost crashed in Paris, losing to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the second round and having to wait for the results of his opponents to check the London ticket. It all came down to the quarter-final clash between Denis Shapovalov and Gael Monfils who had the opportunity to beat the young Canadian and secure his place among the elite eight in London ahead of Matteo. As always, Gael cracked under pressure and lost 6-2, 6-2, propelling Berrettini into the ATP Finals for the first time, becoming the third debutant in London this season after Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas.
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2RamPmM
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