Berrettini battles past McDonald to reach final on home soil in Naples

Italian Matteo Berrettini, the second seed, reached his first ever final on home soil as he beat American Mackenzie McDonald 3-6, 7-6 (2), 6-3 at the Tennis Napoli Cup on Saturday.

Berrettini, ranked No 16, will play the winner of the match between Serb Miomir Kecmanovic, the No 5 seed, and Italian Lorenzo Musetti, the No 4 seed, for what would be a third title of 2022.

It’s the fourth final of the year for Berrettini, who is still chasing a place in the season-ending ATP Finals. He stands 13th in the live standings, with a few weeks still to go.

Impressive recovery from Berrettini

Berrettini trailed 5-2 in the first set and needed a medical timeout for a foot issue but battled back superbly for victory.

“I don’t even know how I did it,” Berrettini said on court. “I wasn’t feeling very good. I asked for the physio because my foot was hurting. It happened so many times in my career that I had to fight through so many things, not just thinking about the tennis ball. I didn’t want to retire. My team told me: ‘I think you should stop’. But I tried and I found a way.”

The Italian beat Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena (6-4, 6-2) and Japanese Taro Daniel (6-2, 6-3) ahead of his victory.

Earlier in the tournament, McDonald, ranked No 74, won against Italian qualifier Francesco Passaro (6-3, 7-5), Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut, the No 3 seed (6-4, 6-4) and Chinese qualifier Zhizhen Zhang (4-6, 6-3, 6-2).