by Gaia Piccardi
The Roman tennis player, who has sunk to number 34 in the ranking, is experiencing a nightmare season. The reasons: a basic physical frailty, like Jacobs; a phase of overload of extra commitments between commercials and well-paid hosted
Forget Melissa Satta and leave all hope that the long crisis of results of Matteo Berrettini, the herbivore of the Nuovo Salario (Roman district) who in January last year was number 6 in the world (best ranking) and today woke up sunk to number 34, is to be attributed to the sentimental relationship – albeit very paparazzi -, you who enter this story backwards of what could have been and was not. Not the season that Berrettini wanted, on the contrary it is becoming the annus horribilis that the fans ruthlessly reproach him (pay attention to the similarities with another champion in great difficulty, Marcell Jacobs, along the way); the Cassation of social networks does not admit an appeal, but parallel to virtual reality runs an objective truth to which it is necessary to cling, in order not to get lost among gossip and social envy, and to keep the bar straight towards the serene beyond the storm.
There is a basic fragility of the athlete, Berrettini like Jacobs. This is the first full-blown truth. There (was) a phase of extra commitments (sponsors, commercials, appearances, handsomely paid hosts), which every enormous success brings with it, Berrettini (the first blue in history to reach the final at Wimbledon, it ran in 2021) as Jacobs (the first blue in history to win two Olympic gold medals in sprinting on the track), very complicated to manage, even more so if you are not advised in the best possible way. like the mountaineer who scales Everest: after the effort, having reached the top, it is legitimate for him to take a few moments to enjoy the panorama. Without to be dazzled by it.
After a problematic 2022 season finale, with a hurried return to the Davis Cup in Malaga and the insane idea of playing doubles with Fognini (Fabio, let it be recorded, did not agree), 2023 seemed to smile again at Matteo. The restart in Australia, finally healed, gave him three great successes (Monteiro, Ruud, Hurkacz, the last two top 10) and two tough battles with Tsitsipas and Fritz, lost but fought. Of course it was the United Cup, a rich exhibition played two sets out of three, then the tennis of the Grand Slams three out of five, a completely different beast, for the signals were good.
The first blow to morale, the seed of the crisis even before injuries became the theme again, in Melbourne: a Scotsman with a future behind him and a titanium hip, the 36-year-old Andy Murray, cancels a match point and eliminates 7-6 in the fifth set. day one is the Australian Open of the guy who wanted to take it all back with interest already over.
At that moment the story with Melissa abundantly on the launch pad, will become public between basketball (Assago Forum) and football (derby at San Siro), the player’s family and staff consider it a positive factor that Matteo has found emotional stability and compensation with the happiness of private life is the bitter disappointment of Melbourne. Berrettini’s tennis, however, took a vacation, together with the precarious solidity of a structurally unbalanced physique (thin calves, Hulk-like torso) capable of withstanding only on/off the violent tears of a modern game that rests on the service architrave -straight. And indeed. Retirement in Acapulco with Rune, slow and cumbersome return to the fast Indian Wells losing with Daniel, round of purgatory to the challenger of Phoenix, defeated by Shevchenko, worse than going to Miami at night, kappa with McDonald. All opponents in a ranking much lower than that of Berrettini. They are beaten, as well as for the physique, for the morale. Intentions and results misaligned, creative thinking that backfires. Instead of creating, it destroys.
Matteo realizes that there is (more than) something wrong. I decided to trust those who have always trained me, I went back to working hard, he says on the eve of Montecarlo, the start of the gravel season, implicitly admitting that he had taken some human pause for reflection, that he had spent too long on the summit Everest. Montecarlo, however, while even in Jannik Sinner mocked by Rune in the semifinal a crack opens up that never closed again, another slap in the face. Cressy goes away quickly in the first round, then the improbable effort to overcome Cerundolo (very hard bone on red, Sinner will find out shortly in Rome) demands the bill from Berrettini: withdrawal from the tournament, yet another dry dock. The rest is recent history. Renounce Rome and Paris (for the second consecutive year), weed as a balm for the soul. In Stuttgart, the tournament at the home of the German sponsor, unthinkable that the Roman testimonial is not there. Perhaps another hasty return for business reasons, but the confrontation with his friend Sonego is merciless: 6-1, 6-2. Matteo leaves the field with his head in his hands, in tears. I thought I was ahead, he murmurs. The sneaky and merciless weed: it does not forgive anything, not even to those who are beautiful, rich and famous.
There is Queen’s, the antechamber of Wimbledon, where Berrettini defends his second title and 500 precious points for the ranking. The forfeit (without explanation) comes on the eve: first round against Ruusuvuori, the Finn who highlighted Sinner’s current limits on the Dutch grass. Still abdominal problems, it seems (someone thinks of a diplomatic injury but in Matteo’s case it is not difficult to believe that it is the bitter refrain of a lifetime). At this point Wimbledon is also at very serious risk, in which Berrettini was unable to participate last year due to his positivity to Covid (and here we would have to reason about the fact that Matteo in 2022, as the favorite of the Championships, did not close himself under a glass bell like Djokovic and Nadal did, who even asked parents to always wear a mask and not go to restaurants to limit the risk of contagion, but that’s another story; in any case, bad luck has nothing to do with it…) . the second incomplete season of a player who can’t find peace, to whom the guru Paolo Bertolucci in the Gazzetta advises, if necessary, to stop for 5-6 months, to put himself in a position to solve the problem once and for all. Provided that the problem is solvable and not chronicled, and here comes the comparison with Jacobs.
Nureyev’s ankles under Mister Muscolo’s big body. A complexion by nature prone to ailments, troubles, strains, serious injuries. Some managerial choices can be reviewed, but mistakes are often noticed only after they have been made. It would be a crime that only Vincenzo Santopadre, the coach who took charge of a Roman boy gifted with brute strength, was paying for a plummeting ranking, making him a man and a top 10 tennis player. It is a real pity that the best of Matteo Berrettini from Rome, 27 years old and 7 career titles, is already behind him. One can hope, one cannot exclude.
June 19, 2023 (change June 19, 2023 | 12:45)
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