The blue imposes himself 6-4 6-2 in 80 minutes and passes the first round under the eyes of his girlfriend Melissa Satta. Meanwhile Sinner is number 8 in the ranking
Let’s not call it rebirth or resurrection, even if we are in an Easter climate, but a small step forward, yes. Matteo Berrettini finally returns to win a match in a Masters 1000, after the two bloody eliminations in Indian Wells and Miami, and he does it in Monte Carlo, on his beloved red clay, under the eyes of his girlfriend Melissa Satta and her son (her ) Maddox, both in Matteo’s box.
The 26-year-old Roman, No. 22 in the world, eliminated the American Maxime Cressy in two sets, 6-4 6-2 in one hour and twenty minutes, demonstrating a good feeling with red especially in the second set.
RECOVERY
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Of course, we are still far from the Matteo deluxe, the one from the Madrid 2021 final, especially as regards travel (it is still a bit heavy, packed), but the positive signs are there. First of all, he was able to turn the game in his favor at a critical moment, which he hadn’t done in previous meetings, when on such occasions he had gone into the ball. At 2-3 and service, in fact, Matteo had a break point against, which could bring Cressy up to 4-2 and open yet another game of suffering for the Roman. Not this time. Berrettini canceled the break point with a good winning serve, and not only that: in the next game he made the most of an empty pass from his opponent, snatching his serve. From there, it’s game over. Cressy has lost confidence, especially in service (12 double faults, a huge amount), while the Roman, refreshed and confident, is back in the “hammer” version, demonstrating a discreet confidence in his shots. Sure, Cressy isn’t exactly a terraiolo, but winning a game like this, at this level and in a tournament like this, wasn’t important, more so, given the moment of discouragement that surrounded Matteo and all of his entourage. In the second round, Berrettini will have a certainly more difficult opponent, the Argentine Cerundolo, who somewhat surprisingly eliminated Cameron Norrie, who this year had won a tournament on clay (in Rio, beating Alcaraz) and finished in Buenos Aires.
THE OTHERS
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Meanwhile Jannik Sinner continues to improve and today records his best ranking in the ATP ranking: compared to a week ago, in fact, the blue has gained one position and is now eighth, never so high. Lorenzo Musetti is stable in 21st position after being eliminated in the quarterfinals in Marrakech, immediately ahead of Matteo Berrettini. Lorenzo Sonego earns two places (from 47th to 45th) but it is above all Marco Cecchinato who makes a big leap in the standings: the semifinal reached in Estoril earned him a climb of 15 places that takes him to number 81. Fabio Fognini remains among the top 100 (97th) but Matteo Arnaldi is also approaching: the success in the Murcia challenger brings him up 14 places, bringing him to 102nd place. Novak Djokovic remains in command, ready to return to the field in the Montecarlo Masters 1000, ahead of Carlos Alcaraz and Stefanos Tsitsipas. The victory of the Estoril tournament allows Casper Ruud to regain fourth place at the expense of Daniil Medvedev, then Andrey Rublev and Felix Auger-Aliassime while behind Sinner Holger Rune and Taylor Fritz close the Top Ten.
Matthew’s words
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“The tank is full again”. Thus Matteo Berrettini heaves a sigh of relief after having regained victory, in the first round of Montecarlo. “I’m the first to be happy – the Roman tennis player told Sky, at the end of the match -. The start of the year was tough for many reasons, but I’m here doing what I love. It’s not easy to face Cressy, play at a high level, I’m happy with how I played. I’m satisfied, I’ve done a great job with my team but I need to put matches and victories in my legs.” “I grew up on clay – added Berrettini -. I love playing here. Looking at the results, I can’t complain, I had an operation on my right hand and it wasn’t easy to recover after so many injuries. It takes a lot of energy to recover. I didn’t have any much more, but now the tank is full. This is a tournament that I particularly care about, and I had never won a game. I put a lot of energy into it. I hope to have a good season on clay, my desire and physique are there: now I have to just work, the results will come”.
April 10, 2023 (change April 10, 2023 | 6:15 pm)
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