King of Queen’s
Berrettini charms his way to title before setting sights on SW19 crown
MattEo Berrettini continued to blast and charm his way through the grass- court season in equal measure yesterday as he successfully defended his Cinch Championships title at Queen’s Club.
no sooner had the strapping Italian defeated Filip Krajinovic in the final than he made Sue Barker tear up by wishing her well for the future in their courtside interview, as she prepares for her final Wimbledon with the BBC.
there are few limits to the talents of Berrettini, 26, who had been emotional enough himself in the wake of a 7-5, 6-4 victory over his Serbian challenger.
the SW19 runner- up of last summer had arrived at the grass-court season off the back of a three-month lay-off, during which he needed surgery on a ligament in his right hand.
despite being unsure of how it would withstand the pressures of competition, Berrettini has since collected two titles, the Stuttgart open — beating andy murray in the final — and now the prime all England Club warm-up for the second year in a row.
‘I think it was maybe 10 days before Stuttgart and my hand was hurting and I was thinking what if it is not going to hold up?’ admitted the Roman. ‘there were moments where I didn’t believe I could come back.
‘I arrived in Stuttgart and had just one set of practice against a junior and I thought maybe I will play a couple of rounds if I’m lucky, see how it goes. and look where I am now.
‘ I have too many emotions. Coming back from surgery and winning two titles in a row, I can’t believe it.’
Berrettini could not deny he will now be one of the few firm favourites for Wimbledon, trying to emulate andy murray from 2016 in doing the Queen’s-all England Club double.
‘I don’t know if it’s too much hype or not but I would be lying if I told you that the main goal is not to win Wimbledon. I may be one of the ones you can bet on but there are other players. Rafael nadal was not there last year and it will not be easy.’
Yesterday’s triumph means he has now won 20 of his last 21 matches on grass, so it is no wonder Berrettini will be a name everyone wants to avoid when the draw for the Championships is made on Friday.
Because the all England Club no longer use a grass- court seeding formula he will only be the no 8 seed — assuming nadal plays — and there will be more left to fortune. Yet his combination of huge serve and forehand will strike fear into anyone.
Winning Queen’s was also highly useful for Berrettini in that he cannot defend his 1,200 points earned at Wimbledon last year, so he has needed to bolster his ranking while it is possible.
about the only bright spot for the Brits at what was generally a flat tournament was Ryan Peniston’s run to the quarter-finals, which had been ended by Krajinovic.
the Serb raised hopes it would be a close final when he broke back for 3- 3 in the first set, but once the world no 48 went behind again at 5-6 Berrettini’s superiority began to show through.
For someone who did not play on grass courts until he was 18, the Italian is a natural on the surface, a surprisingly good mover for his 6ft 5in height, and most definitely a popular champion. lPoLand’S
Hubert Hurkacz, who made the semi- finals at Wimbledon last year after knocking out Roger Federer, also established himself as one to watch at SW19 by winning the ATP event in Halle, defeating world no 1 daniil medvedev 6-1, 6-4.