Matteo Berrettini will not compete at the 2023 Roland Garros as he's still not fit to return to the competition.
Berrettini's exit from the Roland Garros follows a year plagued by injury issues, most notably a stomach muscle tear that has kept him off the clay courts this season. The 27-year-old, known for his heavy forehand and serve, suffered an oblique muscle injury during the Monte-Carlo Masters, leading to a premature end to his participation in the tournament.
Despite hopes of recovery in time for the Italian Open - a tournament close to Berrettini's heart, a subsequent scan indicated that he needed more recovery time, forcing him to withdraw from his home tournament as well.
A former Wimbledon finalist, Berrettini has had a notable career with seven career finals, including a Grand Slam and an ATP Masters 1000. However, he won't add another one in Paris this year as he announced his withdrawal from the tournament due to not being fit enough right now.
His decision to withdraw from the 2023 Roland Garros has been driven by a careful consideration of his physical health and match fitness. Although back in training, Berrettini and his team decided to delay his return to competitive play until the grass season, believing the shift from intense training to five-set matches on clay might be risk.
Over the years, the Italian enjoyed the biggest success on the grass courts, and last season, he didn't lose a single match on this surface. That means that he enters the 2023 grass-court season with 9-match winning streak, having won 20 of his last 21 matches.
Therefore, it's not a surprise that he wants to focus on the tournaments where he has a lot of points to defend, and those are grass-court events in Stuttgart and London. He's currently featured on the entry list for the 2023 Stuttgart Open, and he announced that event as his comeback tournament.
"Making good progress with my rehab and can't wait to be back competing. I will not be ready in time for Paris so my return to tour will be on grass at the Stuttgart Open."
0 Comments