Matteo Berrettini gets off to a strong start and deserves Alexander Zverev
The first season on the “red” is convincing only partially for Matteo Berrettini, who made his debut with a two-set success in the “Rolex Monte Carlo Masters”, the third “1000” of the season, equipped with a prize pool of 6,128,940 euros, which is being played on the clay of the Country Club of Monte Carlo, in Monaco.
The 28-year-old Roman, No. 34 ATP, beat Argentina’s Mariano Navone, No. 70 ranking, promoted from the qualifiers, 6-4 6-4 in an hour and 46 minutes of play. Less “the hammer” than usual Matteo, who put down only 2 aces and as many as 4 double faults, 64% first serve with which he brought home 66% of the points and just 36% of the points won with his second serve. He saved 4 of the 7 break balls he conceded and converted only 5 of the 11 he got. She recorded 19 winners against 35 free errors: 12 against 29 the tally for Navone.
On Tuesday in the second round, Berrettini will face German Alexander Zverev, No. 2 in the rankings and the top seeded favorite, who boasts two semifinals in Monte-Carlo, in 2018 (beaten by Nishikori) and 2022 (stopped by Tsitsipas). The 27-year-old from Hamburg holds a 4-2 advantage in the balance of direct confrontations with the Roman, who, however, won three sets to nil the most recent one, played in the third round on the grass at Wimbledon in 2023 (Matteo’s other victory came in the second round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome in 2019).
