MONTREAL – To the disappointment of many, Italian Matteo Berrettini missed his debut at the National Bank Open on Tuesday at IGA Stadium, delivering a poor performance against Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta.
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Ranked 23rd in the world, he caused a big surprise by overthrowing the 11th seed of the tournament in two sets of 6-3 and 6-2 on the Rogers court. Finalist of the Wimbledon tournament last year, Berrettini was not on his plate. He was thus unable to afford a single break point and kept an efficiency percentage of 59% on his first serve.
Aware that he will have to pull himself together if he wishes to succeed in the important tournaments that will come shortly, the 26-year-old had no excuses to offer.
“It was a bad day at the office. I did not find my bearings and my game. My rival played better than me and was simply solid, he admitted. Everything needs improvement, but at least it’s good to have another tournament on the schedule [celui de Cincinnati la semaine prochaine] from here to the US Open.”
However, the former sixth racket of the ATP is far from giving in to discouragement, especially since his most recent competitions have been quite successful despite his absence from Wimbledon due to COVID-19.
“It’s been a while since I played on the hard surface after titles in Stuttgart and Queen’s, then a final in Gstaad [en Suisse]. Unfortunately, I couldn’t feel my legs today, he lamented. However, the calendar remains condensed and I do not have time to think about this defeat.
The weather: yes, but
About the rather capricious weather conditions, Berrettini did not run away. Whether the weather is nice or not, hot or cold, the work remains the same.
“You have to get used to it and deal with it. This is how it is for me and for my opponent,” he said.
For his part, Carreno Busta could face another Italian in the next round. Indeed, Fabio Fognini had to cross swords with the Dane Holger Rune later in the day for a place in the second round.