Matteo Berrettini exposed the dark side of tennis with his honest confessions
He was the player who appeared to have it all, yet Matteo Berrettini has admitted the tennis demons have been chasing him over the last couple of years.
The 2021 Wimbledon runner-up is one of the most glamorous stars on the men’s tour, with his dashing good looks combined with a power-packed game that won him an army of fans around the world.
The Netflix cameras chose Berrettini to be one of the stars of the Break Point show and yet the good times did not continue to roll for the dashing Italian.
Injuries and dips in form saw the 27-year-old slide into a dark place on and off the court, with his passionate interview with Corriere Della Sera highlighting where his mind was when his career slipped off the rails.
“Deep down, even when I feel exhausted, this (playing matches) is one of the things that makes me alive,” he reflected.
“Not being able to do so, in important appointments, made me know the darkness. And the darkness seems to have no end, it seems to swallow you because instead of standing still and breathing, you dig yourself an abyss.
“They were bad moments, which I did not like. But they were fundamental to make me rediscover the reasons for the joy of doing what I started as a child and that has occupied my whole life.
“I thought back to the origins to find myself. The darkness gave me the space to do it.”
2022 Wimbledon runner-up Nick Kyrgois was among those quick to commend Berretti for his honesty and there is no doubt that his interview will have a big impact.
Men’s tennis remains a sport where showing weakness is frowned upon, yet one of the toughest guys on the tour felt ready to concede in public that he was struggling to cope mentally and physically on the ATP Tour and he is not alone in that.
The demands of playing a solo sport, where all the pressure is on you and no one else can be blamed when it goes wrong, are demanding.
So when injury is added into the mix of a tennis player’s world, it is no surprise when the walls start crashing around them.
The spotlights that were all trained on Berretti after his run to the Wimbledon final two years ago were directed elsewhere, with his rise to the top of the tennis and celebrity ladder halted as quickly as it started.
That is tough for a young man to take, yet his run to the fourth round at Wimbledon last month was evidence that the big Italian is on the comeback trail.
Wins against Alex De Minaur and Alexander Zverev at Wimbledon confirmed this fearsome tennis player is still a potent threat to the game’s top players, with his fizzing serve getting back to its best.
He was eventually halted by Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon, but there is no shame in that.
Now he is winning again, after beating Gregoire Barrere 6-4, 6-3 in the opening round of the Toronto Masters event.
He will now face compatriot Jannik Sinner in the next round, but the mere fact that he is out on the court and playing in an ATP 1000 event confirms that this charming giant is lifting the cloud that had descended around him.
Tennis needs Matteo Berrettini and from what he said in an interview that explained so much about his own agonies over the last couple of years, he still needs tennis more than ever.
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