Matteo Berrettini will seek his third
Stuttgart Open title
when he faces
Jack Draper on Sunday. The Italian has proven to be one of the
toughest players on grass, and despite playing few matches this year, he has
once again reached a final.
He will face a resilient opponent in Draper, who like
Berrettini, has struggled with injuries over the past year. The British player
seems ready to make a breakthrough on the Tour as he seeks his first career
title after two lost finals.
Berrettini aims for third Stuttgart Open title
Matteo Berrettini (No. 95) started his grass-swing
impeccably with a hard-fought first-round victory over 8th seed Roman Safiulin
(No. 43) 7-6(8), 5-7, 7-5. Later on, the Italian secured straight-set wins over
Denis Shapovalov (No. 117) and
James Duckworth (No. 101) to reach the
semifinals.
In a dominant performance, he dispatched fifth seed Lorenzo
Musetti (No. 30) 6-4, 6-0: "Obviously, it's never easy when you play
against a good friend like Lorenzo. We know each other pretty well,"
Berrettini said. "Especially at the beginning, I think you could see there
was a little bit of tension. But I was able to hold my nerves, especially when
I served for the first set. And then after that I was feeling better and better
and happy for the win."
This is Berrettini's best win since the 2023 Wimbledon,
where he defeated No. 21 Alexander Zverev. The victory over Musetti extends his
record on grass to 40-8 (83%), with four titles (including two at the Stuttgart
Open) and a runner-up finish at the 2021 Wimbledon.
Matteo Berrettini in 2023 Wimbledon.
The Italian also secured a 30-place rise to world No. 65,
his best ranking in a year. With just four ATP-level tournaments and one
Challenger played this year, he enters his third final of the season, including
the title in Marrakech and the final in the Phoenix Challenger.
Draper sets sights on maiden ATP title
Another player with a good chance to turn the page after
injuries is Jack Draper. With his strong run in Stuttgart, he ensured he will
be the new British No. 1 starting Monday, and at least world No. 32.
In his young career, the 22-year-old Brit has an 11-5
record on grass, four of those wins coming this week in Stuttgart. Draper is in
the third final of his career and will seek his first ATP title.
Jack Draper at 2024 Adelaide International.
His journey as the 6th seed began with a victory in two
tight tie-breaks against Austrian Sebastian Ofner (No. 52). He then had to
battle against American
Marcos Giron (No. 54) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 and set up a
meeting with 4th seed
Frances Tiafoe (No. 28).
A match that was decided in the third-set tie-break brought
out Draper's best repertoire, totaling 31 aces, the most he has achieved in his
career. His impressive serving then helped him comfortably defeat Brandon
Nakashima 6-3, 6-3 in the semifinals without facing any break points against.
This will be the first meeting between Berrettini and
Draper and will be played on Sunday starting at 12:00 local time at the Tennis
Club Weissenhof.
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