By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Saturday July 20, 2024
Matteo Berrettini served his way past Stefanos Tsitsipas in Gstaad to reach his 15th career final.
Here’s a stat that may surprise you: Matteo Berrettini has never lost a clay-court semifinal (8-0). Known for his prowess on the grass, the Italian has always been surprisingly good on the clay as well, and especially in Gstaad.
The 28-year-old Italian defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6(6), 7-5 on Saturday to reach his 15th career ATP final and improve to 12-1 lifetime at Gstaad, where he previously won the title in 2018.
Berrettini improves to 53-21 lifetime on clay, and 15-5 on the 2024 season overall, with his win.
“I think every final is different,” Berrettini said referring to his three trips to the final in the Swiss mountain town. “I think the first one was unexpected. I had never played in a semi on tour, but here I loved the conditions and every match I was playing better and better and I got the title.”
Berrettini defeated Roberto Bautista Agut in the 2018 final in Gstaad, then reached the final in his second appearance at the tournament, losing to Casper Ruud in three sets in the 2022 final.
He will face France’s Quentin Halys, the 192-ranked qualifier who defeated Jan-Lennard Struff to reach his maiden ATP final on Saturday.
Halys, a former World No.61, is up to 125 in the live rankings with today’s win.
Berrettini, meanwhile, is up to No.58.
“This one feels special for many reasons,” Berrettini said. “I’ve been out of the court because of injuries, coming back and reaching the finals at this place is something special.”
After winning the opening set in a tight tiebreak, Berrettini continued with dominant serving and eventually broke Tsitsipas in the final game of the match to win in one hour and 43 minutes.
He never faced a break point in the contest.
“I also knew that I had to be really focused because I didn’t get the break until the end,” Berrettini said. “I put a lot of attention and energy when I was serving because I knew that the match could change. I played a little bit better in the important moments, and kept serving well and believing that something would happen in my return games.” 82nd-ranked Berrettini won 46 of 50 first-serve points and dropped just nine points on serve overall against the 12th-ranked Greek. The victory marks Berrettini’s first win over Tsitsipas in four tries.
Halys and Berrettini have never met on tour, but the Frenchman beat Berrettini in a futures event nine years ago.