Matteo Berrettini
Rome-born Matteo Berrettini, 26, was the first Italian in history to reach the final of the Wimbledon tennis tournament where he challenged, and lost, to the ace Djokovic.
But taking a step back... It was Matteo's younger brother, Jacopo, who introduced him to the world of tennis.
Matteo Berrettini played his first professional match in 2013, when he was only 17 years old at the Future Italy F21 suffering a defeat, while the first match he won came in 2015, when he played at the Futures Turkey F11 against Serbian Miki Jankovic.
In 2016 he suffered a minor injury to his left knee but managed to end the season on a positive note thanks to several triumphs. Then in 2017, participation in the Internationals of Italy and in 2018 his first major successes.
In 2019, he won two major titles, including the Hungarian Open. Thanks to these successes, he managed to qualify for the Wimbledon tournament; here, he was beaten by the great champion Roger Federer; towards him, he showed great sportsmanship and respect.
The turning point for the young Roman tennis player's career came in 2021, at Wimbledon, the most famous tennis tournament in the world, when he reached the semifinals, leaving everyone speechless. Before him, only another Italian had succeeded: Nicola Pietrangeli, in 1960.
Unfortunately, however, he also collected a defeat here, coming up against one of the best tennis players in history, Novak Djokovic,
He did not look defeated and did not give himself away, because, moreover, thanks to his achievements in 2021, Matteo became number 7 in the world.
Another cold shower, however, came last June 2022, when Matteo tested positive for the swab he had undergone, although not compulsory, before competing.
The competition in fact took place in England, a country where covid-19 is treated like a normal flu, so no isolation in case of a positive result, no more masks, and despite the fact that the swab was not compulsory for the competition, Matteo Berrettini wanted to undergo it himself, as he had flu symptoms.
After the arrival of the positive result, these are the words written by the young man on Instagram:
"I am heartbroken to announce that I have to withdraw from Wimbledon due to the positive result of the COVID-19 test."
"I have been experiencing flu-like symptoms and have been in isolation for the last few days," Berrettini wrote, "Although the symptoms are not serious, I decided it was important to take another test this morning to protect the health and safety of my fellow competitors and everyone else involved in the tournament.
"I have no words," Berrettini concludes, "to describe the extreme disappointment I feel. The dream is over for this year, but I will come back stronger. Thank you for the support."