It has been a long road back for Matteo Berrettini. The man who is endlessly described as a dark horse, a terrible draw, a big name for the seeds to trip up on, claimed another victim on Thursday. He outlasted 20th seed Arthur Fils in a big-serving battle on the grandest of stages, Centre Court, 6-4 7-6 3-6 6-3. But more important than the win, it seemed, was the smile and genuine belief as he said in his on-court interview: “I’m back”.
When he withdrew from his French Open quarter-final and struggled to hold back tears after yet another injury – a hip issue which forced him out on his first appearance, and greatest run, in five years – there were fears that his Wimbledon campaign was over before it had begun, the latest cruel setback in a litany the Italian has suffered.
But so far, so good: two difficult four-setters out the way, and the draw may be opening up for the former finalist. Luck may finally be on his side – although even saying that requires knocking on wood.
As a sweet drop volley died away on the grass, on his third match point, Berrettini turned and stared down his team, roaring with relief and delight, before embracing Fils – a young man whose last year has been derailed by injury too.
Fittingly, he will face another crowd favourite in former semi-finalist Grigor Dimitrov, who overcame a horrific injury sustained in his fourth-round match against Jannik Sinner last year to return to Wimbledon and beat another young talent, 15th seed Jakub Mensik, later on Thursday.
Dimitrov spoke of “conquering myself” after that battling win and unconsciously echoed Berrettini’s press conference a couple of hours earlier. The Italian said: “For a long time I was just thinking about ‘I want to be healthy, I want to feel free to serve, I don’t want to think about my body’. Happiness goes through that, the fact that I don’t have to think about my body.
“I learned how to accept the fact that sometimes I have to stop, sometimes I have to say no, I can’t do it. This is my body, this is my career. I also know that I can get up. Instead of doing too many ups and downs, I’m a little bit more stable and balanced. I think this is really important.”
His brilliant run to the quarter-finals at Roland-Garros felt the warm-up act for Wimbledon, where he reached the final in 2021, on his best surface. “Matteo on grass, it’s always very tricky,” Fils conceded with a wry smile before the match.
So it proved. It was an encounter of fine margins, with just two points between the pair in the first set, three in the second, four in the third, and eight in the fourth as Berrettini stretched away, despite a valiant fightback from Fils.
The young Frenchman reached the fourth round in 2024 but missed last year’s edition due to a stress fracture in his back, which meant he only played one tournament in nine months, while a hip injury also forced him out of Roland-Garros this year after a bright start to the season. His athleticism and ease of movement, coupled with his bullet forehand and powerful serve, make him well-suited to grass.
But Berrettini had the edge on Thursday, with his booming serve and slice backhand proving difficult to handle, drawing errors from the thunderous but occasionally erratic Fils forehand. The Italian seized his only break point chance in the first set while Fils spurned two, and at this level, it proved the difference.
Berrettini told press later: “It means that the work that I put before Paris, and obviously after Paris, the little injury that I had, it’s paying off.
“Sometimes the sport needs a little bit of patience. I think I was patient enough, I took the right decisions at the right time. I’m really pleased that the level is high, the intensity is high. The will of playing and enjoying my time on court is high. That’s what I was looking for. That’s why I’m happy.”
The Centre Court crowd was happy too – evidenced by the frequent popping of champagne corks, always as the players stepped up to serve – and oohed and ahhed its way through as the ace count went up and at each enthralling rally.
Fils is as well-known for his exuberance on-court as his electrifying brand of tennis, but he was unusually subdued in the soporific heat of Centre Court, until he began to get the crowd involved partway through the third set. He improved in the third, cutting down on his errors and moving the 6’5” Berrettini around the court at will, chopping and changing direction, and sealed the set with a trademark “Allez!”
But two wild errors from the Frenchman in Berrettini’s opening service game of the fourth set gave the Italian the confidence he needed to push on: first he skewed a forehand well long at deuce, having been drawn in by Berrettini killing the pace off with a backhand slice, and then hit long again under pressure.
Berrettini survived, and played with fire throughout the fourth, drawing wolf whistles from the crowd as a delightful drop shot died away on the grass, and broke for 3-1.
He was repeatedly helped by fortunate net cords, including one as he held for 4-1 as the net took a chunk out of a Fils return. At 4-2 the “Oles” rang out as Fils whistled an acutely angled volley past Berrettini, alert to the Italian’s drop shot, and lashed in a forehand winner for 30-30 on the 30-year-old’s serve.
But Berrettini fired down an unreturnable serve to hold, and came through another nervy service game as he served for the match, firing down a 136mph ace to earn a third match point and sealing it with that drop volley.
He said later: “When I was younger, [I thought] I want to make it, I want to make it, I want to be better, better, better. Now in my way, I made it. I want to enjoy the process, I want to enjoy my practice, I want to enjoy the tension, these moments, these wins.
“The love for the sport is the same. The love for the competition, the love of pushing my limits, it’s always the same. I’m 30 now. I’m not 20 anymore. Life changed a little bit.”
Life has changed, but after all the setbacks, Berrettini and his huge serve and slice backhand and steely composure are still there. With a smile, he said: “I know my level. I know I can win against anybody. I know I can make trouble for anybody, especially on this surface.”
