Matteo Berrettini is through to his first ATP quarterfinal since March of 2023 (Acapulco) after defeating Jaume Munar 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 at the Grand Prix Hassan II on Wednesday.
Berrettini seemed to be on his way to a much easier victory when he led by a set and 3-1 and had triple-break point at 0-40 to go up 4-1 in the second. That, however, is when things briefly went off the rails for the Italian. Munar managed to hold for 2-3 and stormed back to steal the second set. In the end, though, Berrettini regained control with a break at 3-3 in the third. The 27-year-old added another break to 5-3 to close out the match in style.
“That’s tennis I guess,” Berrettini said of his mid-match hiccup. “I’m really proud of what I did at that moment, but at the same time if you start to think too much about what happened you are never going to be able to win a match like this.
“For sure I cursed myself a little bit, but the best thing you can do is think about the next point and how you are going to win the match. That’s what I did. I forgave myself for that moment and kept going, and at the end I got the win.”
The former world No. 6, who destroyed Alexander Shevchenko 6-2, 6-1 in the opening round, missed the remainder of 2023 after suffering an ankle injury at the U.S. Open. His comeback event saw him finish runner-up at last month’s Phoenix Challenger, which preceded a Miami first-round loss to Andy Murray.
nice one, Matteo