Two days ago, the fans of statistics went to dig up the annals of 1960 to find another Italian, a certain Nicola Pietrangeli, in the semifinal at Wimbledon. This time you can rewind the ribbon of the most prestigious tennis tournament in the world to its origins in 1877 without ever reading the name of a tricolor athlete.
So it’s official. Matteo Berrettini makes history: he is the first Italian ever to compete in a final of the “All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club”. There is only one victory left to complete the masterpiece. The opponent will be the worst possible: that Novak Djokovic who today liquidated Denis Shapovalov in three sets and who by winning Wimbledon would reach Federer and Nadal at 20 slam titles and above all would be only one step away from the Grand Slam, that is the victory in the same year of Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and Us Open. The last one to do it was Rod Laver more than half a century ago. In short, Berrettini does not start as a favorite – the balance is 2-0 for the Serbian so far – and a real feat will be needed.
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Less complicated match than expected
The extraordinary result came at the end of a match that on the eve for the world number 9 was difficult and on the pitch proved to be less complicated. His opponent, the Polish Hubert Hurkacz seeded number 14, a year younger (24 against 25), had excellent credentials on the grass: serve, volley, backhand. Qualities that had earned him a clear victory against a combative Federer but now on the way to sunset.
The movie of the match: first two sets without a story
Today, however, in the first two sets there was no match at all and the final statistics are also eloquent: 60 winning shots (almost all straight) against 27, 22 aces to 5, 86% of points won with the first service against 68 percent. The Roman tennis player had his first big chance at 1-1 in the first set with three consecutive break points, canceled by the Pole with service and goal play. The tear is in the air and arrives on 3 all with a great response and a prolonged exchange won thanks to excellent backhands from the Italian. From then on his superiority was embarrassing for a set and a half, with repetitive breaks and a second set won even 6-0.
Hurkacz finds himself in the third set
In the third set another match begins, when Hurkacz finds service and volleys (43 drops to the net and 28 points at the end of the match) and thus manages to bring the challenge to the tie-break in which he imposes himself thanks to two errors of the Roman, one easy volley sank in the middle of the net and a short ball too “phoned”.