ATP

Berrettini, Tsitsipas and Auger-Aliassime target 2022 ATP title hat-tricks

By Sports Desk October 22, 2022

Matteo Berrettini is set to tackle Davis Cup team-mate Lorenzo Musetti in an all-Italian Napoli Cup final on Sunday after defying advice to pull out with a foot injury.

Former Wimbledon runner-up Berrettini beat American Mackenzie McDonald 3-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 at the hard court event, while Musetti came through 6-3 6-4 against Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic.

Providing Berrettini is healthy to participate in the final, the tournament looks set to deliver a crowd-pleasing trophy match, but it was touch and go whether the Rome native would get through the McDonald match.

"I don't even know how I did it," Berrettini said. "I wasn't feeling very good. I asked for the physio because my foot was hurting. It happened so many times in my career that I had to fight through so many things, not just thinking about the tennis ball."

He added, quoted by the ATP: "I didn't want to retire. My team told me, 'I think you should stop'. But I tried and I found a way."

Berrettini and Musetti have never gone head-to-head before. Berrettini has won two titles this year, both on grass, in Stuttgart and at London's Queen's Club, while 20-year-old Musetti scooped his maiden ATP title on clay in Hamburg.

At the European Open in Antwerp, Sunday's final will see American Sebastian Korda tackle Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, in a battle of two in-form players.

Korda was runner-up last week in Gijon, while Auger-Aliassime took the title in Florence, adding to his Rotterdam triumph from February.

Korda wrestled his way past a recently resurgent Dominic Thiem, scraping a 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 7-6 (7-4) victory, before Auger-Aliassime was given a mighty battle by veteran Frenchman Richard Gasquet, winning through in two tight sets, 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-3) his margin.

Like Berrettini and Auger-Aliassime, Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas has a third title of the year in his sights this weekend.

Tsitsipas swept through to the final of the Stockholm Open with a 6-2 6-2 win over Finland's Emil Ruusuvuori, setting up a clash with 19-year-old Danish player Holger Rune.

For Rune, there was no such straightforward path into the final as Alex de Minaur pushed him all the way, with the Australian eventually edged out 4-6 7-6 (7-1) 7-5 after two hours and 50 minutes.

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    “I came out very flat and I’m disappointed with the attitude in the first couple of sets,” said a very downbeat Norrie.

    “It was very, very slow conditions, very heavy, and I was not prepared for it to be that slow. For me, I can play bad and everything, but I was just very flat and disappointed to have a performance like that.

    “The first two sets he didn’t really do too much and he was up two sets to love. For a player like myself, I can’t afford to give that much of an edge.

    “There is no excuses to play the level that I did today. I missed so many easy short balls and I lost so many points within a couple of shots where usually I can win a lot of those ones.

    “I didn’t come prepared. I was changing rackets throughout the match. It was a bit colder today but I’m good enough to not let that bother me.”

    Norrie lost to Musetti in Barcelona recently but spoke positively after his second-round victory over Lucas Pouille about what he had learned from that clash.

    He was immediately on the back foot, though, dropping serve in the opening game against the stylish Italian and swiftly losing the opening set.

    The second was no better, with Musetti too often finding an answer to everything Norrie could throw at him, and the 17th seed went a break up early in the third as well.

    Norrie was staring at his worst slam loss but he at least made a fist of it, breaking Musetti, who had lost from two sets up on both of his previous appearances at Roland Garros, back and creating two chances to break for 5-3.

    The Italian held firm, though, and drilled a forehand past Norrie to break again before serving out the victory.

    Norrie is known for a relentless work ethic and never-say-die attitude so to hear him talk about a lack of preparation and unwillingness to stay in points is certainly concerning.

    The 27-year-old has maintained a relentless schedule to help him get to and then stay at the top of the game so it would be understandable if he felt mentally fatigued, but he dismissed the suggestion.

    “I’ve played a lot of matches,” he said. “I think I can use that to my advantage. I’ve played more matches maybe than anyone else on the tour in the last maybe three years. I can say that’s a good thing.

    “And then even going into this match today, I was thinking I’ve won more matches than Musetti this year, I’ve won bigger matches than him. I think I’m playing better than him on the clay. I was really confident going into it.”

    Norrie will now head back to London and turn his attention to the grass-court swing a year on from his run to the Wimbledon semi-finals.

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