Matteo Berrettini finally has his first ATP Tour-level win on his comeback as he defeated Alexander Shevchenko at the 2024 Marrakech Open.
This isn't the first match Berrettini won since his return to tennis this year. The Italian won his first match at the Phoenix Challenger and added a few more as he made his way to the final. He would lose in the final, but it was good to see him compete and win again.
His next event was the Miami Open, but he failed to win his first match there, losing to Andy Murray in brutal conditions, which caused him a minor dizzy episode. Luckily, everything was fine with his health as he issued his health update, and he didn't need to take any time off.
He's back on the courts this week in Marrakech, and he got his first Tour-level win as he bested Alexander Shevchenko in two sets. It was a pretty easy win for Berrettini, which was kind of surprising. He's quite solid on clay, but we haven't seen him on that surface in a while, so nobody knew what to expect.
Getting off to a great start was certainly crucial for the Italian, and he broke his opponent early to take a 2-0 lead. He would keep up the pressure against the young Kazahstani, who certainly didn't handle it all too well. They actually played once before this match, and Shevchenko won that match in three sets.
This was firmly on Berrettini's side as he easily outplayed him, dominating from the baseline. The second set was even more impressive as it was a proper dominant performance by the Italian who needed just over an hour to win 6-2, 6-1.
It was just a really strong showing from Berrettini who played the crucial rallies better and that's all you really need to win a match like this.
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