AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 28, 2022

Matteo Berrettini

Press Conference

R. NADAL/M. Berrettini

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

THE MODERATOR: Bad luck, Matteo. It must be hard now, but what do you take out of your month in Australia?

MATTEO BERRETTINI: Yeah, thanks. It was a good trip. ATP Cup, we didn't get the result we wanted, but it was a good warmup, I would say, for this Australian Open.

The result wasn't bad. It was good. First semis here, especially after last year. But obviously I'm disappointed for today's match. I expected from myself a little bit more, but it is what it is.

I have to learn, if it's possible to learn, something from today, from the tournament. It was a tough one for so many reasons. Especially physically I have been struggling, but it was a good start of the year, I would say.

THE MODERATOR: Questions?

Q. What do you mean in terms of the struggles physically? What was it that was bothering you? Did it manifest in the first two sets where you struggled to find your rhythm?

MATTEO BERRETTINI: No, no, in particular today it was just that obviously I got -- you get to the semifinals, the end stages of the tournaments, normally you're a little bit tired. I felt like I was a little bit more because I have been struggling some days with my stomach, and then I twisted my ankle before the tournament and during the tournament, so there were some things that I had to handle that are normal to handle. But you're always wishing or trying to not make that happen.

So that's it. Obviously this is not the reason why I lost the match. Rafa played better than me and he deserved the win.

Yeah, I'm happy because I finished the tournament, I'm healthy, but the next goal is like to be even better, yeah.

Q. When you said you expected more of yourself today, just wondering what you expected, and how hard it was to adjust to Nadal's game?

MATTEO BERRETTINI: I think especially I don't have anything to say about my tennis in the third and the fourth. I think it was a really good fight. I was playing good tennis and he was playing good tennis, and it was I think also fun to watch. I was having fun playing it.

The first two sets weren't what I expected, what I wanted from myself. I was, I wouldn't say flat, but I wasn't in the right mood, in the right mental mindset and for so many reasons. I think for the first set time I'm in the semifinals, against Rafa, so many -- there can be so many reasons. But the fact is that I was just like that, and it was good that I had a really big and good reaction. This is the thing that I'm most proud and happy about.

But you cannot be in the court I think like this for the first two sets against a player like Rafa. Even if I was like I was in the third and the fourth, I still don't know if I could have won the match, but for sure the attitude in the first two, it wasn't good enough. I think that the score proved it.

Q. What do you think the biggest lesson you will learn from tonight or this afternoon's match, given your experience in that first two sets?

MATTEO BERRETTINI: No, I mean, just look at the numbers, no? I don't know how many semifinals Rafa played, but I knew that he has more experience in this.

It was the first time that I played with the roof. It was different conditions. I struggled. At the beginning I couldn't really find the rhythm, and the conditions were a little bit different. It took me a while to adapt, but at the same time Rafa was playing really good.

So I learned that you have to be ready any time, and I'm learning this every day since I started playing tennis. It's a sport that you have to be able to adapt to everything that is happening. Today he was just way better than me.

But like I said, it was a good run. It was a good run. I have a lot of things that I can improve and a lot of things that I did well. I'm proud of what I have done. But I guess in a way it's good that I still have room for improvement.

Q. Can I ask what you said to Rafa at the net? Looked like, when you congratulated him, you whispered something into his ear.

MATTEO BERRETTINI: Yeah, yeah. I said, Well done, well done.

We always had a great relationship with Rafa since I met him. For me, it was an explanation since the really first time that I saw him in the court for the way he is in the court, the way he behaves, and his attitude, we were talking about I learned so much from him, so I wanted to say good luck and obviously well done for what he did so far.

That's it. We also chatted a little bit in the locker room. He told me that was a great run, and I told him again, Bravo. It's just really nice for me to have, like, talk to him and have this kind of conversation, because I'm still learning from them, and it's good.

Q. When you look back on your last year, results in the Grand Slams, the only two players to have beaten you are Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, two of the all-time greats. How does that make you feel?

MATTEO BERRETTINI: Makes me feel that maybe it's time to beat them (smiling).

No, in a way I know that my level I think is getting higher and higher. I think here for the third and the fourth, my tennis level was really high. I'm not saying that he was struggling, but he had to play his best tennis to be with me, and this is what the great champions they do normally, no? When you're stepping up the level, they are there with you.

So I think it's time for me to play these kind of matches as much as possible, to learn from these matches, and next time I want to just get, I want to be ready for them, yeah.