Former finalist Matteo Berrettini unseeded and ‘feeling the pressure’ ahead of Wimbledon opener

For a player who not so long ago was consistently making the second week at the Grand Slams, including a stretch of five consecutive major quarterfinal appearances, limiting expectations and venturing into the unknown can feel like alien concepts.

Just two years ago, Matteo Berrettini was playing in a Wimbledon final against Novak Djokovic. The Italian power hitter was a constant fixture in the top 10 from October 2019 until June 2022.

Last year, returning from a right-hand injury that forced him out of the 2022 clay swing, Berrettini enjoyed a stunning return to action, putting together a nine-match winning streak on grass ahead of the Championships by winning back-to-back titles in Stuttgart and Queens only to then withdraw from Wimbledon due to a bout of COVID-19.

This year, Berrettini’s fortunes took another hit when he sustained an oblique muscle injury in Monte Carlo and once again had to skip the clay season. He played his first match in two months on grass in Stuttgart but walked off court in tears following a 6-1, 6-2 opening defeat to his good friend and fellow Italian Lorenzo Sonego.

“Despite feeling match fit and ready. I clearly was not,” admitted the 27-year-old later in an Instagram post.

After being seeded in his last 13 majors, Berrettini arrives at Wimbledon short on match play — he has played a total of 14 matches in 2023 — low on confidence, ranked outside the top 30 for the first time in four years, and unseeded at a Grand Slam for the first time since the 2019 Australian Open.

It is a lot to wrap one’s head around.

“I’ve felt better in my career. Obviously I don’t have any matches, in football they say ‘in my legs.’ But I think the will is bigger than that,” Berrettini told a small group of