At 28 years old, Matteo Berrettini has gone through many ups and downs throughout his career on the ATP circuit. Due to injuries, the Italian is no longer that serious threat to the top tennis stars, especially at Wimbledon.
Recently, however, he has been feeling better and better on the court. In fact, he was an important part of Italy's victory in the Davis Cup 2024. In fact, his efforts have been rewarded with the nomination for "Breakthrough Player of the Year", alongside Kei Nishikori and Marin Cilic.
Now, Berrettini has made headlines after revealing who his favorite tennis player was as a child, when Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer competed head-to-head. "My brother (Jacopo Berrettini) always chose [Novak] Djokovic, and I chose Roger [Federer]," he reveals in statements reported by The Tennis Gazette.
"We played for hours at home, with balloons, with small rackets, big rackets, it didn't matter, we just had fun. We didn't start out the right way, but luckily we were able to change that," Berrettini added.
It is normal for Matteo Berrettini to feel that he mirrors Roger Federer the most. The favorite surface for both of them is grass. In fact, thanks to the victories of Carlos Alcaraz in the last two editions of Wimbledon (2023 and 2024), Federer remains the player with the most titles at the All England Club in history, with 8. Djokovic remains with 7.
Returning to Matteo Berretini, the Italian has managed to be the third tennis player in all of 2024 who has won the most titles. With victories in Morocco, Switzerland and Austria, the Italian is only surpassed by his compatriot and world number 1, Jannik Sinner, and the aforementioned Carlos Alcaraz. In addition, Berrettini has managed to climb to the 34th position of the ATP Ranking at the end of the year.