Matteo Berrettini made the history of Italian tennis and became the first Italian able to reach the final at Wimbledon in 2021. He has shown that he can express his best level on grass year after year, a surface on which he won four of the seven titles won in his career.
Only Novak Djokovic prevented Berrettini from lifting his first Grand Slam to the sky. About the Serbian champion, Berrettini said during a Denis Tarantello’s Sinnaggagghiri podcast, in collaboration with Red Bull: “Djokovic is humanly alien.
It’s impressive to see the excitement he has after everything he’s done and the way he handles his body. Like Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, but he is the one who perhaps is furthest from who I am due to his characteristics and that’s why I see him this way.”
Berrettini on Federer, Djokovic and Nadal
The Italian had the opportunity to face his idol, Federer, twice.
The first at Wimbledon in 2019, when he managed to collect only five games; the second at the ATP Finals in London the same year. He told: “I grew up supporting Federer. I was there when he stopped, it was a crazy moment. Everyone was crying.
When I faced it the first time I didn’t understand anything. The second I lost but it was more fought. It was something too big, I never thought I’d be in this situation. Federer is a person who always has the right word and always the right mood for any atmosphere and situation.
Elegant he would be obvious. He basically has a very deep self-knowledge and a great sensitivity. Nadal? Pure energy, a bull. When he walks into a room you feel the energy he has. And when he talks about something he did, whether he went fishing or golf, it sounds like he’s telling you about the Punic Wars. He is at six thousand, pure energy.”
