(Paris) The Italian Matteo Berrettini, finalist at Wimbledon in 2021 and handicapped by injuries for months, won his first match on the main circuit on Tuesday on the clay court of Marrakech since his defeat in the second round of the US Open. United in August 2023.
Berrettini, former 6e world ranked 135e this week, defeated the Kazakh Alexander Shevchenko (56e) 6-2, 6-1 in 1 hour 14 and will face the Spaniard Jaume Munar (73) in the second rounde), winner of Frenchman Lucas van Assche.
“Seven months without playing is a long time… I missed it and that’s why I have so much energy,” the 27-year-old Italian, who had found his feet again, said after his victory. short in March.
He had to give up on 2e tour of the last US Open and ended his season due to a ruptured ligament in his right ankle.
Expected to return to the Australian Open in January, he withdrew at the last minute in Melbourne due to an injury to his right foot.
He then reached the final of the Phoenix Challenger (hard) in March and immediately lost in the first round of the Masters 1000 in Miami.
Semi-finalist at the 2019 United States Open and the 2022 Australian Open, Berrettini also had surgery on his right hand in 2022 and had given up on Roland-Garros last year due to an abdominal muscle injury.