Tennis, ATP 1000 Montecarlo: Berrettini-Navone 6-4 6-4

Matteo Berrettini debuts at the ATP 1000 in Montecarlo by winning a game that has risked complicating several times. In two sets (6-3 6-4 in an hour and 45 minutes) a difficult opponent on the red earth such as the Argentine Mariano Navone, number 70 in the world, in a match much more difficult than the score, beaten in two sets (6-3 6-3. The Roman thus gave himself the second round against the number one series one of the tournament, Alexander Zverev, in a game that also affects closely Jannik Sinner. Why? Simple: if Berrettini managed to beat the German, his South Tyrolean friend would certainly be n.1 until his return from the suspension, set to the internationals of Rome.

the game

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It will not be easy, of course, and Matteo knows that he will have to do much more in fields, like those of Montecarlo, who has never particularly loved, since he had lost three times out of his debut. In the first set, immediately ball break for caps to go on, but Navone is good at canceling her. The first to snatch the opponent’s service is the Italian, very effective in response, strangely less than usual to the joke: not for nothing the counterbreak of South American is immediate. It arrives on 3-3 when Navone gives another break to Matteo, which then cancels a break ball on 5-4 and brings home the first part. In the second, it seems smooth for the Roman, current number 34 in the world, with a 4-1 and comfortable service, the result of a double break obtained with not too much effort, when suddenly the light goes out in Matteo’s game: sequence of errors and 4-4 in no time. Fortunately, at that point, there were Navone’s uncertainties and the pride of Berrettini again, who with a third break goes to serve for the match, closing (not without penalizing) the game. The fact of having already debuted on the red and of tasting the Montecarlo camp will be a help against an opponent who appears stronger but perhaps at this time more psychologically fragile like Zverev.