John McEnroe, in an interview with Eurosport, talked about the backhand of Italian player Matteo Berrettini, saying how this shot is like kryptonite for him. Former US legend explained: “The backhand is like kryptonite for him and for his career.
His game revolves around serving; he was also quite unlucky with injuries last year, and I think that definitely affected him compared to everything else. I think he is still looking for the best shape and confidence of him.
Obviously he’s one of those players you don’t want to meet in the first few matches of a competition, but he’s gone badly for both of us this time. I think we will see him compete at a higher level again in the future, but he needs to regain the confidence that he seems to have lost right now.
You know, when you get to play a final at Wimbledon, I know how it feels, you think you’re close to the decisive breakthrough. Now, however, everything is turned upside down. It takes a lot of work, a lot of self-confidence and also some luck to get back into the top ten.
I was watching the game. I was expecting a tough match, but it went beyond what everyone thought. They had already faced each other several times recently, so it was easy to predict that it would be an interesting match. At first Berrettini seemed lost, without game.
Then he was good at getting back into the game. I thought it was over, but he was good at turning everything around. It was nice to see Andy fight so hard physically. He saved a match point and won. I’m sure it was a good moment for him.”
The match between Berrettini and Andy Murray
Berrettini definitely disappointed expectations and was eliminated in the first round of the Australian Open by Andy Murray.
The Roman tennis player didn’t start the match in the best way and committed a large number of unusual gratuitous errors that allowed his opponent to take the lead by two sets. The false start ended up conditioning the entire match and, in the end, it proved to be decisive.
The incredible backhand sent under the net on the match point granted to him by Murray in the final part of the fifth set could be considered the emblem of Berrettini’s performance.
