Rome, 5 May (LaPresse) – “I bounced back really well after Madrid; at the Cagliari Challenger I felt better and found some energy. We know Rome is a tricky tournament because there’s a special affection for it and a desire to do well. You have to manage all that, but now I feel competitive.” So said Italian tennis player Matteo Berrettini at a press conference, a few days before his debut at the Italian Open. “I’m very happy to be here for another year and to try and enjoy this tournament. A burden? No, and it never will be; if it were, it would be the right time to call it a day. I was born with the idea of playing this tournament. After Madrid, I found the motivation to get back on court and work; this is a tournament I care about. If there were another ‘1000’, I’d have less energy; what matters is the work I’m putting in, and it will pay off,” emphasised the world number 100. Berrettini is no longer setting himself major goals. “And it is precisely thanks to this attitude that it will extend my career rather than shorten it; the old way of approaching tennis was taking me down a different path, both mentally and physically. This doesn’t mean I don’t care about great results, but that has been the secret to my journey. After Wimbledon, my mind got a bit too far ahead of itself. What would I like to take from that Berrettini? Perhaps that boldness, without getting bogged down in a thousand thoughts. I’d like to recapture that youthful instinct. I’m working on it. I try to be more instinctive than analytical,” he concluded.
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