«Stronger than the wind» Berrettini flies to the final at Queen’s

the character

Sun, wind, rain, Matteo Berrettini is not afraid of anything. After the torrid heat of the fourth against Tommy Paul, the typical London rain falls on Queen’s, which first delays and then interrupts the semifinal against the Dutch assault Botic Van de Zandschulp in the second set. But Mr Erbettini is not too upset: 6-4 6-3 in an hour and a half and the second consecutive final arrives on the lawns of Barons Court named after Queen Victoria (it has been played here since 1890, but the tournament was born in 1884, 7 years after Wimbledon).

Only one other blue, the Italian-Belgian Laurence Tieleman had landed in the big match at Queen’s (defeated by Scott Draper in 1998), the difference is that Matteo took up residence there, as explained by statistics that must be updated continuously. Yesterday’s was his 32nd victory out of 38 career matches on the green, the ninth out of nine at Queen’s where Filip Krajinovic awaits him today at 2.30 pm.

Against Van de Zandschulp “I played my best match of the week”, says Matteo, who thanks to yesterday’s victory will still be no. 1 of Italy avoiding the overtaking of Jannik Sinner, but he will come out of the top ten (he is 11). “It was windy, and it was tough, I had many chances but I was also caught once in the first set, so I’m happy it went like this.” And to say that it is not yet at its maximum, considering the almost three months of hiatus preceding the fairytale return to Stuttgart. But there is progress, and with the law he has started doing damage again. Serbian Krajinovic, b. 48 Atp, which Matteo has beaten twice out of two (always on clay) has dismissed Cilic a bit surprisingly, it will be the last official test before Wimbledon, which starts on June 27 and where Erbettini can now not hide his ambitions of Terzo Incomodo between Nadal and Djokovic.

In Eastbourne, meanwhile, next week the restored Sinner will return to the field, who in the meantime has revolutionized his staff, hiring a new trainer (Umberto Ferrara), a new physiotherapist (Jerome Bianchi) and above all the long-awaited technical adviser who will work alongside coach Vagnozzi: is Darren Cahill, 57 years old Australian, n. 22 Atp in 1989, former coach of Agassi and Murray, of Sharapova and of Halep, one of the most well-known and esteemed coaches of the circuit. He was already on the list in February, when Sinner was still with Piatti and he also heard McEnroe for the role. The goal is to make Jannik more aggressive and unpredictable. On the grass, but not only. –