Tennis couple Matteo Berrettini and Ajla Tomljanovic have both been impressive at this year's Wimbledon championships, with Tomljanovic reaching the quarterfinals while Berrettini will face World No.1 Novak Djokovic in the final on Sunday.
The Italian defeated Hubert Hurkacz on Friday to advance to his first Grand Slam final, utilizing various weapons like his booming serve and thunderous forehand. However, Tomljanovic believes that the seventh seed's greatest weapon is an attribute that's rarely mentioned, which is his mental toughness.
“I actually think what’s most impressive about him is his mental side," said Tomljanovic. "Obviously his serve, his forehand, his game is great. But I think the way he approaches the game mentally, how he deals with adversity on court during matches is most impressive.
“Obviously I’m more on the inside so I know that it’s not always coming naturally to him to be that positive. He works for a lot of things that come his way and I think that’s really impressive, because I can relate to feeling similarly on the court."
The WTA's World No.75 highlighted his maturity, citing his response to his rapid rise to the ATP Top 10 as an example of his mental toughness.
“I remember two years ago here at Wimbledon when he made the fourth round, it’s a huge difference. Okay, two years is a long time, but still some players don’t do it so rapidly,” Tomljanovic said. “He’s had that success not out of nowhere, but he became Top 10 in a very short period of time and sometimes the mind doesn’t follow as quickly as your game, but he has. I think it’s great.”