Berrettini wins in Stuttgart, beat Murray in the final

Extraordinary Berrettini. On his return, 84 days after the surgery on his hand, he completed a perfect week by repeating the title he had already won in 2019 in Stuttgart. it has very few rivals in the world. Beaten in the final, after a battle of 2h and 40 ‘the revived Andy Murray who only folded to the third (6-4, 5-7, 6-3) after showing glimpses of his best tennis, the one that in 2016 had brought him to the top of the world rankings.

A victory achieved thanks to service and game variations

Berrettini won because he was more continuous, especially in service (81% of points obtained with the first and 19 ace), and showed that he had more weapons at his disposal than the Scot. He wore out his rival by moving him a lot, with forehand and backhand in the back, and then he was good at alternating accelerations with short balls. Murray, in the first grass final after his 2016 Wimbledon win, gave everything to try and take the game to third. He succeeded after being on the brink of the abyss (he canceled 3 match-point-flavored breakpoints at 4-4 of the second) but then physically paid the effort by accusing a missed pass in the opening game of the third and a nuisance to the psoas (the muscle near the groin) that limited him to serve, forcing him, in fact, to surrender at the second match-point in the ninth game.

Because Matteo Berrettini is getting stronger on the grass. And it can happen again at Wimbledon

by Claudio Cucciatti

June 12, 2022

Berrettini: “I never thought I could win after the operation”

“It is incredible this victory is the last thing I would have imagined coming here especially after having undergone the first operation of my life”, Berrettini pointed out at the end. “I definitely didn’t play my best tennis in the first round but game after game I felt better and better. It was a difficult final. At 4-4 of the second Murray was good at forcing and dragged me to the third. I’m sorry who finished injured but still played an excellent tournament “, he closed honoring his opponent.

Fable Van Rijthoven: beats Medvedev and triumphs in s-Hertogenbosh

In addition to the good return of Berrettini, who will now go to Queen’s to try to defend the title he won last year, on tennis Sunday he wrote another beautiful page, that of the first career title in the senior circuit of the 25-year-old Dutchman Tim Van Rijthoven, n. 205 Atp, who completed a dream week by winning the s-Hertogenbosch tournament, scrambling in the final (6-4, 6-1 in just 1h and 5 ‘) the n. 2 of the world Daniil Medvedev. A feat that is almost unbelievable if you consider that for Van Rijthoven it was just his second appearance on a main circuit draw and that he had never won a game before this week. In addition to Medvedev, Van Rijthoven beat Ebden, Fritz, Gaston and Auger-Aliassime to become the first Dutchman to win the tournament after Schalken in 2003.

First title in his career, he will rise to no. 106

Talented as a junior but never confirmed at high levels, the 25-year-old from Roosendaal now seemed doomed to live a career between Futures (he won 8) and Challenger. So much so that he had set foot in the top 200 only last February after reaching the final at the Forlì Challenger. “I was already happy that they gave me a wild card. I was hoping to be able to play at least one good game. Having played 5 is really incredible, I could never even dream of it”, declared candidly at the end. With this victory Van Rijthoven will make a big leap of 99 positions in the standings, climbing to number 106 from Monday.