AUSTRALIAN OPEN

February 11, 2021

Matteo Berrettini

Press Conference

M. BERRETTINI/T. Machac

6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Next round against Karen Khachanov. How do you see that matchup?

MATTEO BERRETTINI: Thanks. I mean, I know him pretty well. He knows me, as well. We are the same age. It's going to be for sure a tough one, especially in a slam, a guy that knows me that much. He's a really good player. It's going to be tough, but in the third round of a slam I don't think that you're going to play an easy match. I'm really looking forward to play him.

Like I said on the court, I didn't feel really good today about my tennis, but I was able to win, so this match gives me a lot of confidence.

Q. You said straight off the bat you didn't feel great with your tennis today. What didn't you feel today with your tennis?

MATTEO BERRETTINI: I think a little bit of everything. I mean, not like in a big way, but I think my serve, my forehand, my backhand, my return wasn't working the way I wanted to and the way I was trying to, but mentally I was there to tell me that today was like this, and I had to accept it. That's why I said this is an important win for my confidence because when you are winning and you're not playing your best tennis, I think it's a great effort and has to give you a lot of confidence. That's what I said.

Q. Can you please give us a comment on the game of your opponent, Tomas Machac?

MATTEO BERRETTINI: I never really saw him before the match, so I was -- obviously we prepared the match with my coach. He told me how this guy plays a little bit, his backhand, he's moving really fast. I knew that the serve wasn't like a big server like Anderson, but I really think that he served really well. He was mixing up. Like I said, he was moving well, really good backhand. He was a little bit unpredictable.

He didn't have -- obviously he was looking for my backhand, but this is not a secret, everybody is doing that. So I think he played a really good game and he was solid, and I struggled to beat him. I think he has to feel pretty good about his game tonight.

Q. What was it like for you watching the match yesterday with Ajla? Was a very draining match coming off the back of that to play today. And also more generally how do you feel now compared to let's say 2019 before the US Open? Obviously you've had a lot more matches back then. You won a lot of matches. This is the start of a new season. How did you feel off the back of watching Ajla which was draining and then your matches this week?

MATTEO BERRETTINI: I mean, it was a really tough match. Beautiful game. I don't know if you can say that, but really nice, nice atmosphere. Obviously I was upset for her because she played really good, and it was a matter of a few points. I really wanted her to win. I think she deserved it. But this is tennis; it can be like that.

It's funny because when I see her I'm probably most stressed than when I play. So I was really tight yesterday night. It's happening when I see her and my brother. This is actually, I think, something nice.

And today was different, definitely. The atmosphere wasn't like that. It was less people watching, and obviously she's playing for Australia, so it was different against Halep, a bigger match. But nothing, I thought about my game. I thought about playing my best tennis, be in the moment.

For a moment I thought about it, I was-2 up, but with my game it's different. I serve better. I thought about it for one second.

And then for 2019, I mean, 2019 I'm always saying that everything happened so fast that I didn't even like have the time to realize. I was just going game by game, tournament after tournament. I didn't have any goals. I have to be honest. I wasn't, okay, now I'm playing for the finals, now I'm playing for the top 10. I was just playing. I was just hitting forehands and serves.

But I think in 2020 I realized what happened, and now I learned a lot from what happened, so I'm already more -- I can say more mature tennis-wise, you can say maybe wiser. Then it's always tennis, so it's a matter of a few things, but I think now I'm a better tennis player.