Matteo Berrettini retains Queen’s Club title to signal Wimbledon intent

Over the past three months, as the tennis tour travelled through Europe and the clay season endured, one men’s contender was missing throughout. Matteo Berrettini underwent surgery on a finger, forcing him to spend his days on the sidelines as the rest of the tour rolled on.

Coming back from injury and quickly regaining the form of old can be one of the biggest challenges a tennis player faces, but upon his return on his favourite surface, Berrettini has made it look easy. He has marked himself as one of the top Wimbledon contenders once more. On Sunday afternoon Berrettini won the cinch Championships for the second year running, defeating the unseeded Filip Krajinovic 7-5, 6-4 in the final.

Berrettini joins a revered list of names to successfully defend their Queen’s Club title, all of whom have reached world No 1: Andy Murray, Andy Roddick, Lleyton Hewitt, Ivan Lendl, Boris Becker, Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe.

Despite his absence, Berrettini has returned with a nine-match winning streak on the surface, surprising himself by winning Stuttgart last week with a victory over Murray in the final, and then carrying his momentum into Queen’s. “The last thing I expected was to come back from surgery and win two titles in a row,” he said.

Last year Berrettini was one of the highlights of a golden Italian sporting summer, rising to reach his first career grand slam final at Wimbledon where he lost in four sets to Novak Djokovic. Berrettini is an all-court player whose big serve and forehand are destructive in any arena.

He has thrived on all surfaces in turn, reaching the semi-final of all four grand slam tournaments. But at a time when many younger players have struggled to replicate their top results on grass, Berrettini