This feature originally appears in Australian Tennis Magazine’s April/May issue, which has a special theme of ‘turning points’. Now in its 50th year, Australian Tennis Magazine continues to bring you in-depth coverage from the international tennis circuit plus features, instructional content and more. Visit the online shop to preview and order your copy.
Armed with a blazing serve, whipping forehand and seemingly endless stores of charisma, there was an undeniably dazzling quality as Matteo Berrettini fired up his stylish weapons to achieve early professional milestones.
From a first career title, at Gstaad as a 22-year-old in 2018, Berrettini progressed to a maiden Grand Slam semifinal appearance at the 2019 US Open, the first Italian man to do so in 35 years.
The highs – along with passionate fans and lucrative sponsors – kept coming as he charged to the Wimbledon final in 2021, making him the first player from his nation to progress to a singles decider at The Championships. Following another Grand Slam semifinal appearance at Australian Open 2022, he peaked at a career-high ranking of world No.6.
It was hard to dispute the glamorous appeal as Berrettini combined those career heights with off-court pursuits such as modelling assignments for designer fashion label Hugo Boss and a Met Gala appearance.
The foundations for success, however, were built on qualities considerably more solid – as Berrettini, now 29, has demonstrated in overcoming challenge after challenge in more recent chapters of his career.
“Last year [2023] was really, really tough, one of the worse years of my career and my life as well,” he admitted in Shanghai last season. “When you’re not able to do your job and what you like to do, then it’s always a struggle.”
Those struggles for the Italian came on multiple fronts, several of them overlapping. After sustaining an injury in a fourth-round run at Indian Wells in 2023, he required emergency right hand surgery, sidelining him for the entire clay-court swing that season.
Berrettini recovered to win consecutive grasscourt titles at Stuttgart and Queen’s but on the eve of returning to Wimbledon as defending finalist, a positive Covid test forced his withdrawal.
The physical challenges continued. After the US Open, he abandoned his 2023 season due to a ruptured ankle ligament. A new foot injury thwarted his return at AO 2024.
It was a series of events that, unsurprisingly, saw the Italian question his ability to remain on tour.
“Unfortunately, since I was really young, I got injured a lot. But when I was younger, I had this energy of just ‘I’m going to do anything in my power to come back and feel stronger and be better’,” he explained to Australian Tennis Magazine in January.
“And then, for the first time in 2023, after I broke my ankle, I felt like I didn’t have that energy to come back anymore. So, I started to question, ‘Am I going to be able to do it?’”
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“I was really lucky because people around me they never doubt this, they always told me that I could’ve done it, I just had to find the energy inside me,” he added. “So I trusted them, and I kept going, and that’s what I proved to myself. I think once again, I proved [to] myself that I could come back.”
Indeed, the positive outlook proved priceless as Berrettini, despite the delayed start, constructed a transformational 2024 season. With titles in Marrakech, Gstaad and Kitzbuhel – along with his fifth appearance in a grasscourt final in Stuttgart – the Italian climbed from No.154 in March to No.34 by season’s end. With that turnaround, he earned ATP Comeback of the Year honours.
Alongside the public recognition for the hard work he’d invested in his career rebuild, another reward for Berrettini was profoundly more personal. Having faced the possibility that a pro-playing career could be taken away, he developed a deep sense of gratitude for his time on tour.
“I was talking to my family a few days ago about how now I’m obviously more wise about my tennis life, and I appreciate the moments more,” Berrettini explained.
“When you’re younger, you just want to get better, stronger, you want your ranking to be higher, you don’t really pay attention to details or what is happening around you.
“Now I’ve been there, I’m appreciating the journey, I’m appreciating every single day. Some days, I know they’re going to be tough; some days are going to be better, but it gives you this knowledge of yourself into the career that only time can give to you."
The ability to make the best of every challenge was also rewarded in other ways. When he was sidelined due to injury in the Davis Cup 2023 Finals, Berrettini nevertheless supported his Italian countrymen courtside as they surged to the world team title.
“I consider myself pretty humble, but when I’m on the bench, I think you could feel that there is something, like, the energy is different,” explained Berrettini, who won both matches he contested – over Thanasi Kokkinakis and Botic van de Zandschulp – in the Davis Cup 2024 Finals to help Italy defend the title.
The first quarter of 2025 saw Berrettini gradually regaining consistency, with quarterfinal appearances at Doha, Dubai and Miami. An upset of Novak Djokovic in the firstround at Doha marked his first win over the Serbian in five matches.
It was further reward for the painstaking efforts Berrettini has invested in rebuilding his career. “On hard court, [Djokovic is] one of the toughest ever, like toughest opponent you can ever play,” he said.
“But at the same time, I told my team that I wanted to take this chance to enjoy the match, to take my chances, to play aggressive, to try to do what we’ve been working on in the last month … on the match point, I just, I think I smiled, you know, like just happiness. [It’s] for these matches I train and I sacrifice.”
With that steady progress, Berrettini returned to world No.27 after Miami, which set him on track for his goal to be seeded at Grand Slams.
If not quite yet the heady heights of his earlier career milestones, Berrettini moves forward knowing that his overall journey in the sport is one to cherish.
In a recent “Love letter to tennis” feature on ATPTour.com, he expanded on the many ways that tennis had changed his life.
“I think everything bad, if we can call it bad, that happened, it was really worth it because then it brought me here to enjoy [the game] to the fullest,” Berrettini smiled.
“[It] taught me to be resilient, to keep fighting, to trust the people that you’re working with. For me it’s not only about the sport, but the chance to meet people, to create friends, almost family members. I had the fortune to meet the people that changed my life, on and off the court.”