It is set to be a busy week on the tennis calendar this week as both the ATP and WTA Tours play in Asia.
The biggest tournament of those tournaments is the China Open, the WTA 1000 event which Coco Gauff has admitted she is treating as a practice tournament, despite being the defending champion.
There is also an ATP event in Beijing, where Jannik Sinner will play his first tournament since losing the US Open final.
While his rival and new world number one Carlos Alcaraz will compete in Tokyo instead, where a former Wimbledon finalist has just won his first match since May.
Photo by RICHARD A. BROOKS/AFP via Getty ImagesMatteo Berrettini wins his first match in over four months at the Japan Open
The Japan Open is a very prestigious tournament on the ATP calendar, and has seen champions including Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Pete Sampras, Stefan Edberg, Jim Courier in its 53-year history.
Tokyo sees a strong lineup once again, including top seeds Alcaraz, Taylor Fritz, Holger Rune and Casper Ruud.
However, there is another standout name in the lineup who is not seeded in Matteo Berrettini, the 2021 Wimbledon finalist who has struggled with many injury woes in recent years.
Berrettini withdrew from the US Open due to continued injury struggles and had not won a match since beating Jacob Fearnley at the Italian Open in May.
The Italian has been plagued by injuries in recent years, and there were even suggestions that Berrettini could be retiring from tennis soon.
Berrettini returned to the ATP Tour at the Hangzhou Open last week, but he has now returned to winning ways in Tokyo.
In his first round match against world number 40 Jaume Munar, Berrettini beat the Spaniard 6-4 6-2 to progress to the second round of a tournament for the first time in over four months.
What has Matteo Berrettini said about the match?
Despite Berrettini being a former world number six and Grand Slam finalist, this feels like a monumental victory given his current status.
When speaking in a video for the ATP Tour, Berrettini appeared pleased with how he had played against Munar and thanked the fans for their support.
“Hey guys Matteo here, just got my first win of the tournament, hopefully not the last one,” said Berrettini. “Feel really happy, last time I won a match was in May, I believe so feels great.
“The support was crazy…I love the support here in Japan. The match was really good, I played well and I think I’m going to play my next match in a couple of days…Thanks for the support from back home and from everywhere you’re watching.”
Berrettini will now have a day off to recover ahead of his second round, where he will play the winner of the match between Ruud and Shintaro Mochizuki.
Not only will the current world number 56 be looking to gain confidence from playing more matches, but Berrettini will also be hoping to climb back up the ATP rankings in the latter stages of the 2025 season.