Matteo Berrettini is through to his first final since 2022 as his comeback continues in earnest at the Arizona Tennis Classic, an ATP 175 challenger tournament held in Phoenix.
Berrettini snubbed trying to play Indian Wells and seemingly Miami with the thought process being to try and get matches under his belt in his first tournament since the 2023 US Open. He had to win two matches on Saturday to get there, first a rain-delayed Quarter-Final and then his semi-final.
He saw off Terence Atmane early on Saturday 3-6, 7-6, 7-5 and then came back to see off Aleksandar Vukic 7-6(2), 7-6(2) to reach his first final since October 2022. There he will play Nuno Borges. He is current defending champion facing the champion of 2019. He defeated Luca van Assche 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 in the second semi-final on Saturday and will be their first meeting.
“I did so much work over the last [six] months that I couldn’t compete,” Berrettini said to the ATP. “I really pushed through. So many sad moments unfortunately and I think that’s where I found the energy today, I just thought about the injuries and (these) moments. I’m just enjoying my time on court.”
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