Jannik Sinner was able to beat both the Wimbledon curfew and his compatriot Matteo Berrettini to advance at the 2024 Wimbledon Championships.
It was one of the early epic matches at SW19. It was an all-Italian contest between a former Wimbledon finalist and a player who reached the semi-finals last year. Both were stopped by the same man on their respective journeys - Novak Djokovic.
This year, if they wanted to reach the showdown with the seven-time champion, they had to battle against each other, and they delivered a show in the last match of the Wednesday's schedule on the Centre Court.
Berrettini is one of the unluckiest players on the ATP Tour, as right after he showed his incredible potential in 2021, reaching the final at Wimbledon, he started struggling with injuries, which have bothered him ever since.
This year, however, he was determined to prove his qualities at the All England Club, but the Wimbledon draw was ruthless to him, as after his first match, he had to take on the World No. 1 player, who also happens to be his friend and Davis Cup teammate.
Already in the first set of the match, the 28-year-old showed why he had so much success at Wimbledon in the past. He took the top seed into a tie-break, and even had his chances in it, but ultimately lost the tie-break 3-7.
in the second set, Berrettini was even up by a break, but immediately after taking his opponent's serve, he lost the one-break advantage, and in the tie-break he once again couldn't match his compatriot, losing the tie-break 4-7 and falling behind two sets to love.
The third set was when the more experienced Italian truly showed that he belonged to the Centre Court, breaking his opponent's serve twice en route to a dominant 6-2 set win to force at least four sets.
When entering the fourth set, Sinner knew that if he wanted to leave the court and not return to it at least until Friday, he had to beat his compatriot in the fourth set, to avoid the Wimbledon curfew, which prohibits matches from extending past 11 p.m.
Once again, he was broken early by Berrettini, but once again, he was able to recover that break. In the twelfth game, he even had a match point, but after failing to use that, a third tie-break of the match decided the fourth set.
It wasn't the third time the charm for Berrettini, as Sinner was just too good on Wednesday evening, winning the fourth-set tie-break 7-4 to win the match 7-6(3), 7-6(4), 2-6, 7-6(4), and eliminate his compatriot in the second round of the tournament. On the other hand, the World No. 1 will now prepare for a third-round match against Miomir Kecmanovic.
Jannik Sinner vs Matteo Berrettini - Match Stats:
| Jannik Sinner | Matteo Berrettini | |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | Aces | 28 |
| 2 | Double Faults | 3 |
| 65% | First Serve % | 72% |
| 82% (72/88) | Points Won After First Serve % | 72% (83/116) |
| 53% (25/47) | Points Won After Second Serve % | 46% (21/46) |
| 20% (2/10) | Break Point Conversion | 57% (4/7) |
| 32 | Winners | 65 |
| 25 | Unforced Errors | 48 |
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