In the final at Queen's, once again.
Matteo Berrettini
does not stop and on the grass of the London tournament, a historic appointment that approaches the Wimbledon slam, he will be able to defend the title won in June last year.
The top Italian tennis player, n.10 in the ranking and second favorite of the British ATP 500, did not miss the opportunity to repeat the success of 2021 and in a semifinal also bothered by the rain (match started with 45 minutes of delay and suspended during the second set) played his best card, the serve, to eliminate the Dutch Botic van de Zandschulp, number 29 in the world, beaten in two sets with a score of 6-4 6-3, in an hour and a half of play.
Now he will have to contend with the Serbian
Filip Krajinovic
who beat the Croatian Marin Cilic with a double 6-3.
For the Roman it is the eighth consecutive success since returning to the field after the stop of almost three months due to injury and the operation on his right hand at the end of March: a return in which he has already been able to celebrate by winning the tournament in Stuttgart last Sunday, confirming himself among the strongest players in the world on grass.
"It was a very hard match, we also had to stop because of the rain - the words of the blue number one - in the first set I was broken after having had the ball to close. I played the best match of the week, I hope to repeat myself in the final. The weather today? Well, this is the real Great Britain, yesterday with hot sun it seemed to be in Italy ... "joked Berrettini, who also received a marriage proposal from the stands.
"Matteo, will you marry me?"
shouted a fan.
Now the title will be played with Krajinovic, # 48 ATP, who surprisingly beat Cilic (for him two cups raised at Queen's in 2012 and 2018).
The blue is leading 2-0 in the precedents with the 30-year-old from Sombor, who was defeated both in the final in Budapest in 2019 and in the quarterfinals in Belgrade last year, always on clay.
"Berrettini make us dream", the message of the undersecretary for sport, Valentina Vezzali who immediately congratulates the tennis player: "Not even the rain stops our Berrettini who reached the final at the Queens tournament, already won last year in London. Matteo give us the second victory after the one in Stuttgart ".
Berrettini tries again, on the London grass a year later he is still a finalist, with the chance to win the trophy that is worth points and prize money.
ANSA agency
Berrettini show, is back in the final at Queen's
Rain does not stop the blue, ko van de Zandschulp.
Now Krajinovic.
Vezzali: 'Make us dream'