"I am super proud of myself” - Berrettini speaks about the rise of Italian tennis

Sunday, 08 December 2019 at 10:32

Since the 1970s there was no Italian player in TOP 10 of the ATP Rankings, but this season, both Fabio Fognini and Matteo Berrettini broke into the TOP 10.

The last 2 men who broke into TOP 10 were Adriano Panatta in 1973 and Corrado Barazzutti in 1978. Currently, Berrettini is number 8 in the ATP Ranking and Fognini's career-high is place number 9.

”It is crazy, because we had to wait a lot,” said Berrettini. “Fabio won a crazy tournament [in Monte-Carlo], he was playing so good. He was looking for this achievement a bit longer than me, he [has had] a really great career. After winning an ATP Masters 1000 [title], the Top 10 is the next step, so I was happy for him and now I am super proud of myself.”

Berrettini also spoke about team events. At the Davis Cup finals, Italy was not so successful when they lost to Canada and USA. Therefore they did not advance from group stages. But players are looking forward to upcoming ATP Cup when they can hold their country's flag high again.

“When you are playing for your country with a team, it's different. You can find, I think, more energy.”

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