Second seed Matteo Berrettini completed an emphatic return to form with a 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(0) victory over Aslan Karatsev on Sunday to clinch the Serbia Open title.
Playing in his first final since Stuttgart in 2019 (d. Auger-Aliassime), Berrettini improved to 4-1 in ATP Tour championship matches after taking down Karatsev. The World No. 10 fired nine aces and broke Karatsev three times during the two-hour and 30-minute battle.
“This title is for my family, this is the first time that they are actually here to see me win the trophy even though it’s my fourth one,” Berrettini said in the trophy ceremony. “So this is a special one. We came a long way since I was a kid and they were bringing me everywhere, so I think they deserve to see this kind of tennis and this kind of level. I really love them.”
Berrettini was competing in just his second tournament since the Australian Open after an abdominal strain kept him off the courts. Last week, he bowed out in his opening match at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters (l. Davidovich Fokina). But he bounced back in Belgrade to claim his fourth ATP Tour title.
“It’s been a pleasure being here. I came here not with the best feelings," Berrettini said. "I came back from an injury, and it’s never easy to come back and play this kind of level, this kind of tennis."
Dubai champion Karatsev was seeking his second ATP Tour title of the year after stunning World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals.
from Tennis - ATP World Tour https://ift.tt/3aFpPAx
No comments:
Post a Comment