Stuttgart [Germany], Playing his first tournament since Monte-Carlo in April, Matteo Berrettini reached the Stuttgart final, defeating countryman Lorenzo Musetti 6-4, 6-0 to reach the championship match.
The former world No. 6, who has been successful in grass events, needed just 66 minutes to overcome his countryman to reach his second ATP Tour final of the season.
https://x.com/atptour/status/1801969873377017968
"When you win like this, it's better. You spend less energy. I think I played enough during the week," Berrettini said, as quoted by ATP.So today, it was really good to play an hour and six minutes."
Berrettini has thrived on grass throughout his career. The 2021 Wimbledon finalist has won in Stuttgart twice before and is one win away from claiming a hat-trick of crowns at the German ATP 250.
“Obviously, it's never easy when you play against a good friend like Lorenzo. We know each other very well.Especially in the beginning, I think you could see there was a little tension. But I was able to keep my nerves in check. "Especially when I served for the first set and then after that, I was feeling better and better and happy with the win," Berrettini said.
The difference in the first set was very less. Musetti actually earned more break points in the opener (4-2) but was unable to convert any of his chances.He faced a 0/40 deficit when Berrettini served for the set at 5–4, but rallied to move within a set of victory.
Musetti gifted him a break to start the second set when he missed a high backhand volley. Berrettini raced to the finish line from there and converted four of his seven break points to win.
The Italian will next face Jack Draper, who defeated Brandon Nakashima 6-3, 6-3 in 72 minutes.
The 22-year-old Briton hit 13 aces and won 94 percent of his first serves (31/33) and did not face a single break point in the match.
The former world No. 6, who has been successful in grass events, needed just 66 minutes to overcome his countryman to reach his second ATP Tour final of the season.
https://x.com/atptour/status/1801969873377017968
"When you win like this, it's better. You spend less energy. I think I played enough during the week," Berrettini said, as quoted by ATP.So today, it was really good to play an hour and six minutes."
Berrettini has thrived on grass throughout his career. The 2021 Wimbledon finalist has won in Stuttgart twice before and is one win away from claiming a hat-trick of crowns at the German ATP 250.
“Obviously, it's never easy when you play against a good friend like Lorenzo. We know each other very well.Especially in the beginning, I think you could see there was a little tension. But I was able to keep my nerves in check. "Especially when I served for the first set and then after that, I was feeling better and better and happy with the win," Berrettini said.
The difference in the first set was very less. Musetti actually earned more break points in the opener (4-2) but was unable to convert any of his chances.He faced a 0/40 deficit when Berrettini served for the set at 5–4, but rallied to move within a set of victory.
Musetti gifted him a break to start the second set when he missed a high backhand volley. Berrettini raced to the finish line from there and converted four of his seven break points to win.
The Italian will next face Jack Draper, who defeated Brandon Nakashima 6-3, 6-3 in 72 minutes.
The 22-year-old Briton hit 13 aces and won 94 percent of his first serves (31/33) and did not face a single break point in the match.
