Matteo Berrettini won the 2022 edition of the Stuttgart Open after defeating fellow Italian, Lorenzo Sonego in the quarterfinal, Oscar Otte in the semifinal, and Andy Murray in the final. The Italian also won the Queen’s Club Championships of that year.
Matteo Berrettini also had a topsy-turvy 2023 before injury ended his season at the US Open. He returned in the 2024 Australian Open but withdrew before his first match due to another injury. He returned again in March, losing to Nuno Borges in the final of the Arizona Tennis Classic.
Matteo Berrettini won his first title of the year at the 2024 Grand Prix Hassan II and returned to the top 100. He then withdrew from the Madrid Open and stayed out due to illness till the end of the French Open. He entered into the Stuttgart Open with a protected ranking but is regarded as a favorite to win the title.
Matteo Berrettini Attacked Denis’ 2nd Serve
Matteo Berrettini was paired in the second round of the Stuttgart Open against Canadian professional, Denis Shapovalov. In the first set, Berrettini stayed ahead on his first serves, winning 18 of the 22 points contested.
Shapovalov kept Berrettini at bay with fiery forehand and backhand winners, sealing 10 points compared to the Italian’s seven. However, the Canadian was undone by his unforced errors which claimed six points from him.
Berrettini attacked Shapovalov’s second serve, winning six of the 12 points contested, including creating two breakpoints and winning one of them. The single breakpoint separated both players at the end of the set, with Matteo Berrettini taking the set 6-4.
Shapovalov Undone By Unforced Errors
Matteo Berrettini started the second set similarly to the first. He stayed ahead of the Canadian by winning 15 of 17 first serves and stealing five points off Denis Shapovalov’s second serve.
Denis Shapovalov countered Matteo Berrettini with fiery winners but was undone by points he lost due to unforced errors and double faults. Shapovalov was unable to create a single breakpoint on Berrettini’s serve, while Berrettini converted the one breakpoint he created on the Canadian’s serve which separated them in the end.
Matteo Berrettini has always been known for his big serves, with his first serve against Shapovalov averaging 201 km/h. The Canadian also kept up the pace, serving at 199 km/h on his first serve. The Italian’s win over Shapovalov sends him into the quarterfinals. The win marked his first over Shapovalov in three meetings.
Berrettini Had A Fire-cracker 1st Round Match
Matteo Berrettini returned to the court against Roman Safiullin, the 8th seed of the Stuttgart Open tournament, in the first round. Their first-round clash was a classic. Safiullin lost in three sets after a firecracker tiebreak separated them in the first set.
After three sets, Roman Safiullin had a total points tally that exceeded Berrettini’s by eight points. He had a better return game, winning a total of 42 points from Berrettini’s serve than the 26 Berrettini won from his serve. He produced six breakpoints and converted one.
Matteo Berrettini won the first set after a tiebreak that contained 18 points, and dropped the second set to a late Safiullin breakpoint, before stealing the third set with a late breakpoint to win. He smashed a total of 27 aces past Roman Safiullin all match.
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