Australian Open: A giant awaits Nadal: Berrettini continues to grow

The Italian, who beat Monfils in five sets, lost to the Spaniard in the 2019 US Open semifinals

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With his victory in five sets against Gael Monfils, Matteo Berrettini he will appear in the semifinals of the Australian Open, after also doing so in the US Open and going through Wimbledon, before being surpassed by Novak Djokovic in the final last summer. It’s an incredible feeling. It has been a great fight with Gael, a great match with many emotions. I thought I was going to beat him in three sets, but I found myself again in the fifth. I fought hard and put it all on the track. That is why I am really happy, he said after winning 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 3-6 and 6-2, leaving a total of 51 winners.

Number seven in the world, this 1.96 meter, 25 year old Roman giant, trained by Vicenzo Santopadre, is taking steps in the right direction, with clear fundamentals in the service and the forehand. He has five titles, although none of them on a hard court and he is still waiting for his first Masters 1000, after losing to Alexander Zverev last year in the final in Madrid.

After resisting in the third round to Carlos Alcaraz, who came back from two adverse sets and took him to the supertiebreak, you will have a Spaniard in front of you again. This time he will need even more than he needed to get rid of one of the tennis players nominated for the immediate future. He lost to Nadal 7-6 (6), 6-4, 6-1 in the semifinals of the 2019 US Open. Most likely, the match will be played at 4:30 am on Friday in Spain, in a year where the schedules have been modified and the two semifinals will take place on the same day.

I know I can beat Nadal. It will be very difficult, but I am in the semifinals of a Grand Slam for the third time, and that means that I have the level to achieve it. I want to go further, he said about the match against the tournament champion in 2009.

Before the first major of the year, he played the ATP Cup in Sydney, with defeats against the Russian Medvedev and the australian De Miaur and a single victory, before Umbert. They have lost 10 of their 12 matches against top 5 players, recording their only two wins against Dominic Thiem.