Matteo Berrettini continued his solid grass season at the 2024 Halle Open, being Alex Michelsen in his first match at the ATP 500 tournament.
The Italian missed Roland Garros and much of the clay season as he needed more time to get into peak condition for a very busy summer. He returned last week in Stutgart, where he played really well, reaching the final but unfortunately losing to Jack Draper.
He made his way to Halle to continue his grass season in Germany. It was a fairly solid first match for him because he faced Michelsen and bested him in two sets. The first set was very close, as the American kept it close by playing well.
Michelsen took an early lead of 3-0 after Berrettini struggled to find his timing a bit, but eventually, he was able to break back. The Italian is one of the best players on grass, so it was only a matter of time before he found his tennis.
After breaking back, it was a close match that went into a tie-break, which was also pretty close. Eventually, it was the Italian who won the tie-break 7-5, and it was a hugely important moment because it shifted momentum on his side.
He kept playing well in the second set, boosted by winning the opening set. His serve became unreturnable, allowing him to easily cruise through his service games.
Michelsen was solid as well, but he had one bad game on his serve, which is exactly the game in which Berrettini broke for a 4-2 lead.
With the way he was serving, it was basically game over, as the match concluded fairly soon after that. It was a solid start for the Italian, who won 7-6(5) 6-2, and he will hope to have a good week in Halle as well.