A year after he became a sensation in his country as the first Italian to reach the men’s final, the 26-year-old is ready to go one better
Sometimes it takes a while before the scale of an achievement such as reaching the final of Wimbledon for the first time sinks in. For Matteo Berrettini it came within a few hours. Having attended the Euro 2020 final and seen Italy defeat England on penalties, Berrettini joined the team on the pitch for the celebrations. They told him they had been glued to the television earlier in the day, willing him on against his opponent, Novak Djokovic.
“After they won I went to congratulate them and they were like: ‘We should have napped but we couldn’t because you were playing; we couldn’t rest,’” says a beaming Berrettini. “And they were really pumped, they were really happy for what I’d done, what I achieved. Some of them are still texting me. We are still in touch. It was just everything together, it was special.