For revenge.
If Matteo Berrettini won the two matches played against Gaël Monfils, their first face-to-face, in the quarter-finals of the US Open 2019, remained anchored in the memory of the protagonists.
The match had been epic.
Gaël Monfils, after a controlled 1st set, then played on the edge of inconstancy.
Out of the game, he miraculously returned to it, before finally being knocked down.
With in the mouth the bitter impression of a great missed opportunity, since the Italian had eliminated the French at the end of the suspense (even if the match hung on the roller coaster had not been of a very high level).
7-5 in the fifth set tie-break.
Berrettini and Monfils have everything for the match to be a spectacular, intense showdown.
To discover
Australian Open: men's schedule and results
Australian Open: ladies schedule and results
For Gael Monfils.
At 35, the French No. 1 is getting younger.
Concentrated, involved, he chases away dispersion and methodically swallows obstacles.
He will experience his 10th Grand Slam quarter-final (like Yannick Noah; only Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 15, has more during the Open era in French tennis).
Game reconstructed by the Austrian coach Gunter Bresnik (the former mentor of Dominic Thiem) who told in the Austrian media
Heute
and comments reported by
L'Équipe
: “Gaël is a privileged person, his head is fast.
When you watch him play video games, you are amazed.
He sees things earlier than others, like Nick Kyrgios.
Some observers see him as a puppet, but Gaël does not consider himself a clown, there to put on a show.
Otherwise, he would not have been 6th in the world.
He is a worker.
He can win a Grand Slam title.
A year ago, Gaël Monfils left Australia in tears after a cruel elimination in the first round.
The duo needed a little time.
For the opposition of style, the puncher versus the marathon runner.
It's going to be a big, big game.
»
For Italy which finds a place at the top.
On July 11, Berrettini shared the front page of
La Repubblica
with the Squadra Azzurra. In London, the Italians had become European champions. He lost 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 to Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final. The next day, he shared the parade and the honors with the footballers. Entered the hearts of the tifosi. He is in the quarter-finals with Jannik Sinner. It is the first time since Paolo Bertolucci and Adriano Panatta at Roland-Garros in 1973 that two Italians have reached the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam tournament. Berrettini, on his way, dismissed the Spaniards Carlos Alcaraz (n ° 31) 7-6 in the super tie-break of the 5th set (10/5) and Pablo Carreno Busta in 3 sets.
For Matteo Berrettini, the strength of regularity.
The Italian (seed No. 7) scored a fourth consecutive Grand Slam quarter-final in Melbourne, after Roland-Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open. He is the first Italian to reach the big 8 in all four major tournaments. He is, finally, the first born in the 1990s to reach the quarter-finals in the four major tournaments. Matteo Berrettini (25), a player in constant progression. A player who dreams of one day being given advice. He recently told
Corriere della Serra
about the dream reinforcement in his technical staff: “The dream is Roger Federer, my idol when I was a child.
The only reason I would be happy for him to retire soon is if he joined my team.
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