Berrettini aiming to be Grand Slam contender after difficult 2022: "I was not that far from doing it in previous years"

Matteo Berrettini gave an exclusive interview to Eurosport where he discussed his aim of winning a grand slam in 2023 after coming up short a few times.

Berrettini has had a few deep runs at grand slams in the past with his best result coming at Wimbledon in 2021. He reached the final but lost to Novak Djokovic in a fairly competitive match. His 2022 was derailed by injuries and poor form with COVID preventing him from playing Wimbledon. He was heading into the event undefeated on the grass with two trophies so it was a major disappointment.

He's hoping for more success in 2023 as he considers himself among the top players:

"I consider myself as one of them [top players]. I remember playing Alcaraz at the beginning of the year and I felt that he is a great player and he had great potential. I didn't expect him to go up that fast but he deserved it so good for him. At the same time, Novak and Rafa are always Novak and Rafa. They're always going to be there."

Berrettini continued:

"Age-wise I'm in the middle of them, but I feel that I can get back to that level, and obviously the goal is to get back in the top 10 and see from there. Last year, before the hand surgery I was at my best ranking. I was six in the world. I know that it is my level and I know I can get back there. Why not even better?"

Goals are fairly certain, a grand slam trophy:

"I see my chances of winning a Slam," he said. "I was not that far from doing it in previous years. That's for sure a goal. Obviously, I had to think about my health first because if there isn't that it's tough to play. But once you get there and you're feeling good, then obviously the goal is to win a Grand Slam, to win a Masters 1000, to have long runs in the most important tournaments in the world and I think I can do that."