By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Thursday January 27, 2022
After falling to Rafael Nadal in four sets in the Australian Open semifinals, No.7-seeded Matteo Berrettini was still trying to make sense of an up and down performance against the legendary Spaniard.
Happy to have reached his third major semifinal, Berrettini said he was disappointed by the way he handled Friday’s battle with the 20-time major champion. He drops to 0-7 against the Top-10 at the majors with the loss.
“The result wasn't bad,” Berrettini said. “It was good. First semis here, especially after last year. But obviously I'm disappointed for today's match. I expected from myself a little bit more, but it is what it is. I have to learn, if it's possible to learn, something from today, from the tournament. It was a tough one for so many reasons. Especially physically I have been struggling, but it was a good start of the year, I would say.”
It was a tale of two matches for Berrettini, and he later lamented the effort he put forth in the opening two sets, which were clearly dominated by Nadal.
“I don't have anything to say about my tennis in the third and the fourth,” the Italian said. “I think it was a really good fight. I was playing good tennis and he was playing good tennis, and it was I think also fun to watch. I was having fun playing it.”
Berrettini, who has been knocked out by either Novak Djokovic (Roland-Garros '21 QF, Wimbledon '21 F, US Open QF) or Nadal in each of the last our Slams, was clearly disappointed with his effort in the first two sets, but he didn’t go into detail about the reasons for what he characterized as “being in the wrong mood.”
“The first two sets weren't what I expected, what I wanted from myself,” he said. I was, I wouldn't say flat, but I wasn't in the right mood, in the right mental mindset and for so many reasons. I think for the first set time I'm in the semifinals, against Rafa, so many – there can be so many reasons. But the fact is that I was just like that, and it was good that I had a really big and good reaction. This is the thing that I'm most proud and happy about.
“But you cannot be in the court I think like this for the first two sets against a player like Rafa. Even if I was like I was in the third and the fourth, I still don't know if I could have won the match, but for sure the attitude in the first two, it wasn't good enough. I think that the score proved it.”