Is this guy for real? Berrettini on Sinner’s secret, and why he’s an inspiration

Ahead of his second-round clash with Jannik Sinner, Italy’s Matteo Berrettini talks about the impressive rise of the 22-year-old world No.1.

Image Sport / Panoramic

Chris Oddo

July 2, 2024

Wednesday’s showdown between top-seeded Jannik Sinner and 2021 runner-up Matteo Berrettini (third match on Centre Court) will be the most highly anticipated match of the second round, if not the whole of week one at Wimbledon.

Berrettini, one of the most revered grass-courters in the men’s game with a 41-10 lifetime record on the surface with four titles, hopes to stay relevant against his surging compatriot, but he knows that he’ll have his hands full.

The 28-year-old Italian says he can remember the days when Sinner was just a coltish teenager, a talent, but one not quite in possession of all the fury that he now possesses in his electric game. At that point it was Berrettini who was the future of Italian tennis.

“Sometimes I think I was kind of like the first one of this generation,” Berrettini said on Monday night at Wimbledon after winning his first-round match over Marton Fucsovics (7-6(3), 6-2, 3-6, 6-1. “I used to be the young one, and now I’m the older one. But I think it’s great for everybody: for the players, firstly, and then for tennis fans. There are so many in Italy. For the whole movement.”

On Sinner: “I felt something special”

Berrettini recalls hitting with Sinner many years ago in Monte-Carlo. He knew immediately that Sinner could be something special in the sport.

“The first time that I play with him was in Monte-Carlo in 2019,” Berrettini said. “I felt something special. I’m not really good at saying, ‘Oh, this kid is going to be No. 1 in the world. I don’t have this kind of sight like this. But I felt: ‘Okay, this kid is going to be really, really good.’

“It was impressive. Also, the way he was learning so fast and his attitude. It was just a learning process all the time. And he is still doing that. I think that’s why he went up so quickly in a way. We always forget how young he is.”

Is this guy for real?

Four years later, Berrettini witnessed Sinner lead Italy to the Davis Cup title, and he was blown away by what he saw.

“At the end of last year I was injured, and I wasn’t on tour to see him live with my eyes,” he recalled. “I had the chance to go to Davis Cup, and it was unbelievable. It was like we were looking at each other saying, Is this guy real? Because he wasn’t missing. Hitting every ball full power. It was just the confidence that he built throughout the year was unbelievable. Just kept improving all the things that he is working on with his coaches.

“I think his secret is that he is really hungry for improvement. That’s his secret. And the humbleness that he has about it. Yeah, just special. Personally, it gives me so much energy to just try, like, to be there and to play against him and to be at his level. For me it’s really useful.”