Tsitsipas upsets Italy’s Berrettini to put Greece right back in it in fight for United Cup final

Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Matteo Berrettini on Saturday. Greece now trail Italy 2-1 in the United Cup semi-final

Stefanos Tsitsipas at the United Cup (AI/Reuters/Panoramic)

January 7, 2023

Matteo Berrettini did not get the result against Stefanos Tsitsipas that he wanted or that perhaps he deserved. He had the opportunity to send Italy to the final of the United Cup, but lost in three sets to Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas, 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4.

The world No 16 seemed to have the match in hand thanks to his powerful serve, which disturbed his opponent for a long time, unable to return his first serve. But Tsitsipas waited for his moment, which came in the tiebreak of the second set, taking it 7-2 with good returns, something he had been missing since the beginning of the match.

Tsitsipas boosted by crowd

The second turning point of the match came when Berrettini was 3-2 up in the decider, with a break point, but the crowd helped Tsitsipas out of trouble. In the next game, on his only break point of the set, the Greek gave himself a decisive break, imperious on return of serve and staying strong until the end.

“I needed them, I needed every single member of the team to uplift me. Guys, what a great atmosphere out here. I’m loving it. Congrats to you – what can I say? We won this together! I had to start returning a few balls in the serve back, which I was struggling with in the beginning. I hung in there. I was waiting for my chances,” explained Tsitsipas after the match.

With this victory, the Greek is guaranteed to be world No 3 on Monday.