Matteo Berrettini a lot is played on this grass tour. He has started in the best possible way, returning to the circuit after surgery on his right hand with a title under his arm. His performance in the past ATP Stuttgart 2022 It was magnificent, but now he faces a new challenge, even more complicated: to defend the title won last season in Queen’s 2022. The British tournament was the event that catapulted the transalpine to show the best version of him at Wimbledon, where he reached neither more nor less than the final of the tournament. A final that he will try to defend … but that will make him lose, no matter what happens, the number of 1,000 points.
The decision of the ATP in response to the veto of Russians and Belarusians by Wimbledon 2022 he has fired up a lot of players, but few will be hurt as badly as Berrettini. The Italian has many possibilities to leave the top-20 due to those points that he will not be able to defend, and in the press conference prior to his next tournament he spoke at length about the decision made by the highest governing body of the circuit. First of all, Matteo acknowledges that “It is a very difficult situation to handle for all parties”but this does not exempt from responsibility the response taken by the ATP.
“First of all, this is very difficult for the people who are suffering in Ukraine. In my specific case, it is complicated, because I played very well last year on grass and this year my ranking is going to drop completely, regardless of how well play this year. I think that that’s not fair. If the ranking worked naturally, the more and better you play, the better your ranking will be. I think that has been taken from us, and I don’t agree at all.”argues a Berrettini who, beyond all this, directs his complaint mainly to the way in which the ATP has made such an important decision: without consulting it with the hard core of the men’s circuit.
“No one has talked to us. No one has asked our opinion on the matter, and I think things shouldn’t work like this. Perhaps we should do something to avoid this type of situation, because I think this is the biggest decision that the ATP has made in the last 20 years”, put forward the transalpine. “This is something that is going to affect, above all, those who They defend a lot of points and they can win a lot”.
IN SPITE OF EVERYTHING, A WIMBLEDON WITHOUT CHANGES
Beyond the discrepancies with the ATP’s way of proceeding, Matteo considers that there are sufficient reason to live a Wimbledon 2022 without more external problems than there are already. The Italian does not believe that there will be a great exodus of players, thanks to the prize money increase of the London tournament and its own tradition and essence. “It’s a Grand Slam. If I’m not mistaken, this year is also going to have a prize money record. It’s clear that everyone is willing and eager to play it, also because it’s Wimbledon. It’s one of the major tournaments we have. I don’t see anyone thinking, ‘Okay, I’m not going because there are no points.’ I don’t think there will be any more changes in the tournament. Wimbledon”.
