Wimbledon: Matteo Berrettini Wins with Heart and Determination; Stan Wawrinka Ends the Match in Tears

Matteo Berrettini advanced past the first round at Wimbledon, defeating circuit veteran Stan Wawrinka—who was making his final appearance at the Championships—on Court 1 after a marathon match lasting four hours and a quarter. All four sets went to a tiebreak: 6(7)-7, 7-6(16), 7-6(7), 7-6(5) was the final score in favor of the Roman.

The match was incredibly intense from the very start, with neither player able to pull ahead in any set: the first break didn’t come until the third set, which, incidentally, began after a twenty-minute break to allow organizers to close the stadium roof and continue play under artificial lighting.

Wawrinka won the first set after Berrettini managed to save three set points, while the second set featured a record-breaking tiebreak with a total of 34 points, with six set points saved by the Roman and five by the Swiss, who was unable, however, to save the one at 17-16.

In the third set, after the first break of the match that put Berrettini up 5-4, Wawrinka responded promptly; at 6-6, another tiebreak was necessary: here, Berrettini managed to come back from 1-4, saving two set points and closing it out 9-7. It was a similar story in the fourth set, which also ended at 6-6: in the tiebreak, Berrettini squandered two match points before finally clinching the victory and raising his arms to the sky.

In a departure from protocol, the organizers decided to let the loser speak at the end of the match as well, given the occasion: Wawrinka approached the microphones in tears, explaining that his decision to retire was due to his body being unable to withstand such a grueling pace any longer: “If it were up to me, I’d keep going forever—my passion for this sport is enormous,” explained the 41-year-old from Lausanne, winner of the Australian Open in 2014, Roland Garros in 2015, and the U.S. Open in 2016, as well as the Olympic gold medal in 2008.