Great Italy in sport. While the national football team dreams of winning the European Championships and winning basketball access to the Tokyo Olympics, Matteo Berrettini enters history. The Italian tennis player has reached the quarter-finals of Wimbledon.
In the history of Italian tennis
The victory against Ilya Ivashka for 6-4, 6-3, 6-1 allowed Berrettini to become the fifth Italian in history to reach the quarterfinals of the prestigious tournament on grass in LondonHis 23 years have passed since the last tennis player able to accomplish this feat. It was 1998 and at the time it was Davide Sanguinetti who entered the top eight of the Championship. Even before in the Open era, only Adriano Panatta in 1979 had succeeded in the feat. To be added to the list Uberto De Morpurgo in 1928 and Nicola Pietrangeli, able to reach the quarterfinals in 1955 and the semifinals in 1960.
A very solid match that of Matteo Berrettini who continues to impress on the grass of Wimbledon. In one hour and 46 minutes of play, the Italian took the victory over Ilya Ivashka. Only one turn of service allowed for the Italian tennis player who closed the game with 7 aces, 52% of first in the field and only six points lost with the first. The first set immediately struck for Berrettini who flies 3-1 then controls the challenge and closes with a score of 6-4. In the second set he goes to 5-1 putting the record straight and after a slight physiological decline ends with a sharp 6-3. In the third and final set there is no story and leave only one game to the opponent.
Berrettini is the second Italian to win the quarter-finals in at least three Slams (Us Open 2019, Roland Garros 2021 and Wimbledon 2021) and the first to do it on three different surfaces. Now in the quarter-finals one between Auger Aliassime and Zverev will draw, with the match scheduled for Wednesday.
Berrettini, a certainty on the grass
Not surprisingly, Matteo Berrettini's exploit, considered to all intents and purposes one of the strongest Italian tennis players ever on grass. The '96 class boasts 5 ATP titles, two of these won on grass, the only Italian to do it. Just this year he won the Queen's tournament, which has always been considered a preparation for Wimbledon, thanks to the victory over Cameron Norrie for 6-4, 6 (5) -7, 6-3. In June 2019 he won the Mercedes Cup tournament in Stuttgart, again on grass. In the final he defeated Félix Auger-Aliassime in two sets, a possible challenger in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon.
Now for Berrettini comes an important testing ground with the dream of winning the semi-finals of the tournament. After an excellent course, the bar is raised for the Italian tennis player against two possible opponents who are extremely fearsome on the grass and who will surely give the 25-year-old Roman a hard time.
featured photo source: Instagram
