Holger Rune overcame Matteo Berrettini in three sets, winning in a comeback with the score of 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 and qualifying for the 3rd round of the Shanghai Rolex Masters, where he will face the Czech Jiri Lehecka. The Dane managed to come out of a complicated and balanced match, dominated by the serves and decided by a few details.
At the press conference, Rune analyzed the progress of the challenge, praising his opponent and focusing on the hesitations of the Italian in the service at the end of the match: a detail that allowed the Dane to win.
“I think it was a very good match. I had the impression that he didn’t do anything wrong in the first set. I made some mistakes, but he was good. He didn’t allow me to make many mistakes. I think the same thing happened in the second and third sets, but in the opposite direction. Every time he played a little bit middle or short, I was ready to punish him with my shots. It was a good match, honestly,” he explained.
“We both were able to play high-quality tennis. We hit a lot of winners, good serves and we moved well. I’m really happy that I started the tournament this way. I think I’ve been consistent in a lot of tournaments, but I haven’t gotten this far. It’s a process, I have to keep working and doing the right things. Today there was a clear improvement after the first set: I was hitting the ball better and I was aggressive. I’m happy with my start to the tournament, this is the way I want to play and I’ll try to continue like this,” he added.
Holger Rune© @PrinceHolger_ X account
Berrettini’s path thus ends in the 2nd round. The Italian tennis player had started rather well, winning the first set but had to give in after two hours and one minute of play. Matteo often gave in over the distance, due to a less than perfect physical condition due to injuries that often slow down his results.
One data more than any other testifies to Berrettini’s difficulties in recent years, now consistently out of the ATP Top-30 world ranking. Matteo has not reached the 3rd round of an ATP Masters 1000 since Monte Carlo 2023. In this year and a half, the Italian has obtained only 6 victories out of 17 matches.
Numbers that certainly do not give value to a talent like Matteo, pure but physically (and perhaps mentally) fragile. If we look only at the hard-courts, Berrettini has not reached the 3rd round of a tournament since Indian Wells 2022: truly worrying numbers.
In the meantime, the Italian has also won tournaments in the lower categories but is still struggling in the Masters 1000, also due to a draw that – no longer being seeded – immediately puts him against the best. The goal is to end the season in the best possible way and get into the Top 30 as soon as possible, as he has repeatedly stated.
“Time flies. Obviously I have good memories, it’s a fantastic competition and I’ve improved even more. I hope there’s another great match coming up,” said Berrettini on the eve of Shanghai. Words that reflect the harshness of the moment.