Berrettini: "I had been chasing this victory for a long time"

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Sometimes we forget how difficult it is to maintain a competitive rhythm within a circuit where not resting for a week means giving an advantage to your rivals. If you are also 37 years old, it is normal for the first round of any tournament to become a real danger. This happened to Novak Djokovic this Tuesday in the ATP 500 in Doha, where he lost in straight sets to Matteo Berrettini, a typical opponent who, if having a good day, can corner any adversary. Everything went smoothly for the Italian, who won 7-6 and 6-2 against the 24-time Grand Slam champion. Listening to his words in the post-match interview with the Tennis TV team, you can perceive the tremendous excitement that must have been to finally defeat an opponent who had historically resisted him.

"It is impressive to have beaten him, without a doubt, it was a goal I had in my mind for a long time," confessed the Roman tennis player. "We had already faced each other in some of the most important tournaments on the circuit, but I still lacked that honor of overcoming him in any of those encounters. The truth is that I have been working really hard to be back on the circuit, to recover, and to compete again at this level," he declared with that automatic smile of someone who has not yet fully realized the conquered mountain.

"I know my level can be very high, but I need many more matches like today's to reach it. Today I feel that all the work I have been putting in day after day for the last few months has finally paid off, I believe today it has been seen how everything has worked on the court. I am very happy with the performance I have delivered and, beyond that, happy to have been able to enjoy it, which is the most important sign," acknowledged the 28-year-old player, a man tremendously plagued by injuries in these last seasons.

DRAMATIC VICTORY

They faced each other in the 2019 ATP Finals, in the 2021 Roland Garros quarterfinals, in the 2021 Wimbledon final, and in the 2021 US Open quarterfinals. Fate wanted Djokovic and Berrettini to always meet on illustrious stages... and fate always wanted the Serbian to win. Now that they have faced each other in an ATP 500 with a clear result, the Italian finally managed to claim the first victory. However, for anyone who has seen the match, reading these lines will remind them of how the last three games of the match unfolded, where the Balkan player almost slipped through a crack to force a third set.

"You never know what can happen in a match like this, especially in those final moments; we are talking about one of the greatest champions this sport has had, Novak Djokovic," valued the World No. 35 in the interview. "He is a great competitor, someone always ready to turn the situation around. Look at what happened on the first match point I had, it was incredible, but tennis is often like that. All I could do at that moment was to stay focused on each point and keep playing, being very aggressive and seeking my game, relying on myself. I never stopped to think about that missed match point, I just reset and started thinking about the next point, that's what I did," concluded Matteo, who will have to face Tallon Griekspoor in the round of 16.

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Berrettini: “Llevaba persiguiendo esta victoria mucho tiempo”