THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 3, 2024

Matteo Berrettini

Press Conference

J. SINNER/M. Berrettini

7-6, 7-6, 2-6, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You showed an amazing fighting spirit, even though two sets to love down. Do you see any positives coming from this? Looking forward to the rest of the season, do you see any momentum gained from this?

MATTEO BERRETTINI: It's always tough to be positive after moments like this. I think I played a great match against the No. 1 in the world, and I had many chances.

So I guess what I have to take from this match is that the level is there, which is something that I also always believed, but until you really prove yourself, it's tough to feel it, I guess. It's tough to say something. I think it was a great match. It's tennis.

But I'm happy that today walking on court and I thought about the match and during the match I thought about the match, not about injuries, not about my body, not about these things. At the end it was a matter of how many matches like this I played in the last year.

I feel obviously proud of myself, but at the same time obviously a little bit sad for the result.

Q. You played an incredible level against the top player in the world right now. Reflecting on Jannik, playing him today versus the last time you played him last summer, what changes do you see in his game and his tennis?

MATTEO BERRETTINI: Obviously the surface was different, best of five. It was also a different moment of his career and my career. Last summer I wasn't, let's say, in a happy place like I am right now. I was struggling a little bit.

It was the moment that he started to play better and better because he won the tournament after that. So, obviously, right now he has way more confidence. You can see. I think he missed three balls in the whole match.

It didn't give me that oxygen that sometimes you need. So I expected a really solid player that was playing good. But I think he surprised me, and I surprised myself also, how I was handling the level because at the end of the game I was up a break on the sets that I lost almost.

Really proud of myself, again, but I think he is improving every day. I said it before the match. His skills are getting -- he always returned really well. He always ran really well, but his touch and his ability to read the moments and to play -- not just read them like this, but with some spin, some slice. I think they're doing a great job.

That's one of the reasons why he is No. 1 right now.