“Yeah, yeah, tough loss.": Berrettini berates aspects of Alcaraz loss, but taking positives from Wimbledon run

Matteo Berrettini disappointed after being defeated by Carlos Alcaraz in the fourth round of Wimbledon.

The Italian arrived at the All England Club in a poor tennis form this year, with only one match on grass before Wimbledon at the Stuttgart Open, falling to his compatriot Lorenzo Sonego in a tough 6-1, 6-2 loss.

Sonego himself was Berrettini's opponent in the first round, and there were low expectations for Berrettini, who entered the tournament unseeded and had a year filled with injuries. However, he showed signs of his strong grass-court level and advanced to the fourth round with victories over Sonego, recent Queen's Club Championship winner Alex de Minaur, and Alexander Zverev.

In his match against world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, Berrettini claimed the first set and seemed capable of competing with the Spanish player or even defeating him, given his impressive serving. However, Alcaraz improved as the match progressed and managed to break Berrettini's serve, ultimately winning the match 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.

“Yeah, yeah, tough loss. I mean, I played the best player in the world, so I expected this kind of level. I think he found a way to make me feel uncomfortable on court,” Berrettini said.

“I think I still could have played better, but that's tennis. It's not always like what you wish for. Yeah, it's tough now, but I have to be proud of myself, look forward for what's next, yeah,” he added.

“You know, now it's tough to put things under the right perspective. I don't like to lose, so... Right now it's tough to say it was a good tournament. I know it was," he said.

“Probably in a few hours, a few days, I'm going to appreciate even more what I did. I really thought about not playing two days before the tournament. So being in the fourth round and losing like this against Carlos, it's something I have to be proud of," Berrettini added.

With the performance shown at SW19, Berrettini ensured his new position as world No. 32, which could benefit him for the rest of the year as he would be seeded in several tournaments. If he maintains this ranking, he would eventually enter the US Open as a seed, allowing him to avoid tougher opponents in the early rounds.

Currently, the Italian does not have any scheduled tournaments until the Toronto Masters 1000, where he has only participated once (2022) and suffered a first-round defeat against Pablo Carreño Busta, who went on to become the tournament champion.