Rome misses him and the exploits of Carlos Alcarazthe new number 6 in the world ranking, slipped it to the eighth position. Matthew Berrettini, away from the playing fields for almost two months due to a right hand injury suffered on the eve of the Miami Masters 1000, has had to abandon all the clay court tournaments played so far: Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Madrid and precisely the long-awaited home tournament, the Internazionali di Roma. Likewise, the top ten of the Roman tennis player, who had already been forced to withdraw from the Australian Open and Acapulco this season due to an abdominal injury, seems to be in danger given that the time of his return is not yet known.
The Indian Wells wound and the operation
But what happened to Mateo? Last season’s finale was the prologue to the current one. It all started at the ATP Finals in Turin with the blue forced to withdraw due to an abdominal injury. Problem that also lasted until the Australian Open where he had to give up the round of 16 and in Acapulco, Mexico, in the debut match. The long break, the return to the field, then new problems in Indian Wells where the blues had left the scene in the second round at the hands of the Serbian Kecmanovic, a few days before the Masters 1000 in Miami. A pain in the right hand that at first did not worry Roman’s medical staff who thought of an inflammation, but as the days went by the problem worsened, forcing him to lose in Florida and, above all, to end up under the operating room on the eve of his death. the season on clay with a small particle injury above the right little finger that serves to hold the tendon in place. “Not participating in these events, especially in Rome – he wrote on Instagram a few weeks later – was an extremely difficult decision that, however, I think is the right one to be able to return to the highest levels.”
Matteo ‘discovers’ Berrettini: “Success has changed me, managing it is not easy”
by Mauricio Crosetti
Roland Garros, more no than yes
The hope was to see him in the Roland Garros, but the chances of him taking the field at the foot of the Eiffel Tower are very low, as Berrettini himself confirmed a few days ago: “I don’t want to force the times, I will only go to Paris if I am in a position to reach the end. At the moment it is more no than yes, just in case I go directly to the tournaments on the grass”. And it is Wimbledon, in fact, the true goal of the Roman tennis player: “Last year I took the position losing in the final, next time I hope to score. Mentally, this stop was difficult, and the day I officially announced it I would not have played in Rome, it was terrible.”
On the grass many points to defend
And the season on the grass will be essential for Matteo’s ranking. The break forced him to give up the defense of the Belgrade 2021 points (where he had won) and the 600 points from the Madrid final of the same year, in addition to the 2019 and 2020 points maintained by the covid. post-break regulation (75 in Munich 2019, 125 in Budapest 2019 and 90 in Rome 2020). On the pitch, Berrettini will have to defend the victory at Queen’s and, above all, the Wimbledon final. To do this, however, he must recover from another injury that affected him at the start of the season.