By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Saturday, December 10, 2022

Matteo Berrettini was heading into Wimbledon as one of the top favorites after running the table on grass in 2022. He went 9-0 on his favorite in 2022, winning titles at Stuttgart and Queen’s Club, but would see his Wimbledon dreams derailed when he tested positive for Covid and had to pull out of the event.



Berrettini, who holds a 33-6 lifetime record on grass and reached the finals at Wimbledon in 2021, has had bad luck with injuries and illness for several years, and he underwent right hand surgery in March of 2022, which forced to miss the entire clay season.

When all was said and done the Italian finished the season with a 32-12 record and a ranking of 16. He may not be first on the last of top Grand Slam contenders in 2022, but the 26-year-old Italian is backing himself as a new season dawns.

“I see my chances of winning a slam,” he told Eurosport earlier this week, while playing at an exhibition event in Saudi Arabia. “I was not that far from doing it in previous years. That’s for sure a goal.

“Obviously, I had to think about my health first because if there isn’t that it’s tough to play. But once you get there and you’re feeling good, then obviously the goal is to win a Grand Slam, to win a Masters 1000, to have long runs in the most important tournaments in the world and I think I can do that.”

Berrettini reached the semifinals at the 2022 Australian Open and the quarterfinals at the US Open. It should be noted that he has reached at least the second week in his last six Grand Slam appearances.

He believes he has the energy – and the level – to play at the elite level again in 2023.

“I feel that I can get back to that level, and obviously the goal is to get back in the top 10 and see from there,” he said. “Last year, before the hand surgery I was at my best ranking. I was six in the world. I know that it is my level and I know I can get back there. Why not even better?”