Matteo Berrettini has a big new goal

Matteo Berrettini’s big goal

Conquer the U.S. to take back Turin. That’s the big goal of Matteo Berrettini and Jannik Sinner, who are still in the running in the Pepperstone ATP Race to Turin, the ranking currently led by Rafa Nadal that will determine the eight qualifiers for the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, scheduled for Nov. 13-20 at the Pala Alpitour.

Berrettini, who was defeated in the final in Gstaad, Switzerland, is stable in 12th place in the Race with 1,845 points, 520 less than the 2,365 of his friend Felix Auger-Aliassime, currently eighth and virtually last of the qualifiers. If then Djokovic were to close, as is likely, the season between ninth and 20th place, he would go to Turin as Slam champion in 2022 in place of the eighth-place finisher in the Race. But from Turin’s perspective, the best is yet to come, particularly between the Montreal and Cincinnati Masters 1000 and the US Open. Berrettini, who forfeited the ATP 250 in Kitzbuhel this week, will make his debut in Canada and is aiming to do better than in years past in Ohio, where he has never gone beyond the round of 16. In New York, on the other hand, playing conditions exalt him: he reached a semifinal in 2019, the first for him in a Slam, and a quarterfinal in 2021.

After the US Open, Berrettini will (like everyone else) have one less Masters 1000 to exploit in the run-up to Turin due to the cancellation of the Shanghai tournament. That leaves, however, in addition to Paris Bercy, a couple of ATP 500s (Tokyo or Nur Sultan, then Vienna or Basel) and the two new ATP 250s in Italy in Florence and Naples.