Berrettini earns final proposal
Italian makes it four in a row on grass
ITALIAN heart-throb Matteo Berretti played his way into the tennis record books by reaching the final at Queen’s again — and won an unexpected marriage proposal along the way.
Berrettini had to be at his best to beat Dutch world No29 Botic van de Zandschulp 6-4, 6-3 in a raininterrupted semi-final. He now defends his title against Serbian outsider Filip Krajinovic.
Berrettini, 26, lost in last year’s Wimbledon final to Krajinovic’s better known countryman Novak Djokovic and once again looks the biggest threat to the status quo.
Today he can scoop the £341,890 winner’s prize as he marks a fourth consecutive grass-court tournament final, a feat matched by only Djokovic, Roger Federer and Andy Murray of active players.
‘I didn’t know that,’ said a smiling Berrettini afterwards. ‘I can’t compare myself to those three players, they made history in our sport but I’m trying to learn from them and hopefully one day I’m going to beat them.’
To beat ‘them’ would mean getting to the Wimbledon final again next month, something which is not out of the question given he defeated Murray to claim the title in Stuttgart last week.
The Italian dropped his serve for only the fourth time this week as Van De Zandschulp hauled back an early break to trail 4-5.
But the underdog, who at one point voiced his frustration at the noise coming from the chattering classes in front of the clubhouse, was undone by a pair of Berrettini volleys as the second seed wrapped up the first set.
The Dutchman’s mood did not improve as a rain delay arrived midway through the second set with him facing a break point, the 26-year-old arguing in vain that the game should not have started as it was already raining.
Almost inevitably upon the resumption he lost the point, sending a forehand long and shrugging in exasperation as the match slipped away.
Meanwhile, his swashbuckling style and dashing good looks continue to earn the athletic 6’5’’ Berrettini admirers both on and off the court.
‘Will you marry me?’ shouted one fan from the crowd as he celebrated victory.
‘Let me think about it,’ replied the 26-year-old (below), who was dating Croatian tennis player Ajla Tomljanovic at Wimbledon in 2021.
‘It feels unbelievable to be back in the final,’ he added. ‘It was a difficult match with the stoppages for rain.
‘It was tough serving in the wind too, but I played my best match of the week.’
Conditions in west London were 15 degrees cooler than Friday’s heatwave and Berrettini joked it felt like going from Rome to London in a day. He said: ‘It feels unbelievable, I’m really happy, today was a very tough match and now I’m really looking forward to the final.
‘I guess this is the UK. Yesterday felt like Italy, today is more London weather. But we have to adjust to everything. I was ready when I had to be ready.’
His opponent will be surprise finalist Serbian Krajinovic, who defeated two-time Queen’s winner Marin Cilic 6-3, 6-3.
World No48 Krajinovic had never won a match on grass before his impressive run this week, which included a narrow quarterfinal victory over British wildcard entry Ryan Peniston.
Croatian No 7 seed Cilic, 33, played well below his recent form, which took him to the semi-finals of the French Open.
The former US Open winner and Wimbledon finalist hopes to recover his spark at the All England club when he returns to the grass at the end of the month.
Krajinovic, 30, has lost in the first round on his four previous visits to Wimbledon. He has also been beaten in his two previous matches with Berrettini.
He admitted afterwards: ‘I do not like to play on grass, so I find a way to skip the tournaments. Then I come to Wimbledon and lose first round! I have only ever watched finals like here before, so it is amazing to be playing in one.’