Wimbledon 2021: does Berrettini really do the 1985 Becker?
Matteo Berrettini will contest the second semi-final in a Grand Slam tournament against Hubert Hurkacz on Friday. Is the Italian Novak Djokovic's greatest remaining competitor?
by tennisnet.com
last edit:
Jul 09, 2021, 09:45 am
As it is before a big tennis tournament, when the favorite is as clear as it was before Wimbledon 2021: From the beginning, this event was the one that no other player than Novak Djokovic can win. And then you have to look for statistics like this one: The last debutant who won the preparatory tournament in the Queen's Club was Boris Becker in 1985. Matteo Berrettini managed just that. What Becker achieved a few days later on Church Road in the Wimbledon district has long been part of German sports history.
And Berrettini? Isn't he exactly the man who could repeat Becker's feat 36 years later? The Italian has a serve of epic dimensions, the forehand is a real weapon, Berrettini is not afraid to pursue his balls. That could be a recipe for success against Djokovic, as Sky expert Michael Stich, Wimbledon winner 1991, noted in the Serbian match against Marton Fucsovics. The Hungarian steadfastly refused to go online, maybe Berrettini has more guts.
Hurkacz wins in Miami
First of all, today, Friday, it's against Hurbert Hurkacz. The sample of mutual matches is small, Hurkacz won the only match in Miami in 2019. It was there that the Pole celebrated his greatest career success a few months ago, winning the 1000 event in the final against Jannik Sinner. Hubert Hurkacz also showed good nerves in his last two appearances at Wimbledon in 2021, first in the five-set match against Daniil Medvedev, then against Roger Federer, who, as almost always, had the audience on his side.
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Berrettini struggled with Félix Auger-Aliassime in the quarter-finals, the Canadian provided the blueprint in sets two and three on how to get to Matteo Berrettini: By continuously massaging the much weaker backhand side. No secret on the tour, of course not for Novak Djokovic, who defeated Berrettini in the quarterfinals of Roland Garros.
The German Davis Cup captain Michael Kohlmann and ÖTV sports director Jürgen Melzer are also committed to ensuring that there is no way around the industry leader. Listen to it in the latest edition of "Quiet, please - the tennisnet podcast".
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Here the single tableau in Wimbledon
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