{"id":169156,"date":"2025-09-20T06:19:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-20T06:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/169156\/"},"modified":"2025-09-20T06:19:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T06:19:10","slug":"italian-tennis-legend-shares-his-concerns-about-matteo-berrettini-as-he-makes-his-return-in-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/169156\/","title":{"rendered":"Italian tennis legend shares his concerns about Matteo Berrettini as he makes his return in China"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Matteo Berrettini returned to tennis in Hangzhou after three months out.<\/p>\n<p>Having last played a match at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetennisgazette.com\/tag\/wimbledon\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Wimbledon<\/a>, Berrettini returned from injury at the Hangzhou Open in China.<\/p>\n<p>In straight sets, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetennisgazette.com\/news\/how-matteo-berrettini-did-in-his-first-match-back-from-injury-after-three-month-absence\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Berrettini lost to Dalibor Svrcina<\/a> 3-6, 3-6, in the first round.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-2214817204-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Matteo Berrettini reacts during the 2025 Italian Open\" class=\"wp-image-101655\" \/>Photo by Elianton\/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>The 29-year-old showed some positive signs in both sets, but couldn\u2019t quite keep up with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetennisgazette.com\/tag\/atp\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">ATP<\/a> world number 99.<\/p>\n<p>Looking ahead to the remainder of the 2025 season, Italian tennis legend <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetennisgazette.com\/tag\/paolo-bertolucci\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Paolo Bertolucci<\/a> has shared his concerns about Berrettini.<\/p>\n<p>Paolo Bertolucci is concerned Matteo Berrettini could suffer another injury if he plays too many matches<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.adnkronos.com\/sport\/berrettini-hangzhou-eliminato-bertolucci_67I7aCBBwzt7ZT8D8h1PwV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Adnkronos<\/a>, Bertolucci gave his verdict on Berrettini\u2019s return from injury.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn some ways, it would be better for Matteo [Berrettini] to play the qualifiers, so he can play more matches. However, by entering the main draw, he risks playing only one a week,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat said, it shouldn\u2019t be forgotten that upon his return, you have to be careful because by cramming in too many matches, there\u2019s the fear of another injury.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOnly he and his coach know what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-2214179299-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Matteo Berrettini reacts during the 2025 Italian Open\" class=\"wp-image-131107\" \/>Photo by Antonietta Baldassarre\/Insidefoto\/LightRocket via Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>Bertolucci was then asked about the possibility of Berrettini dropping down to play smaller tournaments, such as Challengers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMany have done it, but maybe he\u2019s afraid that playing three qualifying matches and a couple more in the main draw in the space of 4-5 days is too much,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Berrettini last played a Challenger Tour event in 2024, when he reached the final in Phoenix, Arizona.<\/p>\n<p>2024 Phoenix 1R \u2013 Matteo Berrettini defeated Hugo Gaston2024 Phoenix 2R \u2013 Matteo Berrettini defeated Arthur Cazaux2024 Phoenix QF \u2013 Matteo Berrettini defeated Terrence Atmane2024 Phoenix SF \u2013 Matteo Berrettini defeated Aleksandar Vukic2024 Phoenix F \u2013 Matteo Berrettini lost to Nuno Borges<\/p>\n<p>The 74-year-old suggested how long it will take for Berrettini to get back up to speed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBerrettini has played very few matches in 2025 and has essentially been sidelined for four months. Anyone who thought he could show good quality upon his return is deluded,\u201d said Bertolucci.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat matters is that he\u2019s resolved his physical problems. But if he doesn\u2019t play at least ten matches, it\u2019s pure utopia to think he\u2019ll be playing at a certain level.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Berrettini might not get to play ten matches before the end of the year, but he will hope to win his first match back at his next ATP tournament.<\/p>\n<p>Matteo Berrettini will compete at the Japan Open<\/p>\n<p>Heading east, Berrettini will now set his sights on the Japan Open in Tokyo.<\/p>\n<p>The Italian has only played the event once before, competing as an unseeded player in 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Defeating the qualifier Botic van de Zandschulp in round one, Berrettini met the talented young Frenchman <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetennisgazette.com\/tag\/arthur-fils\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Arthur Fils<\/a> in round two.<\/p>\n<p>After losing the first set in a tiebreaker, Berrettini retired from the match with an abdominal injury.<\/p>\n<p>The defeat aged well, however, as Fils proceeded to win the title, picking up wins over Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton, and Holger Rune in the Japanese capital.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-2175898044-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Arthur Fils celebrates with the Japan Open title in 2024\" class=\"wp-image-34763\" \/>Photo by Koji Watanabe\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>Berrettini will be looking for a better showing in 2025, although he may already have one eye on a return to Europe.<\/p>\n<p>After playing in Tokyo and Shanghai, the Italian will travel to Sweden for the Stockholm Open ATP 250 event.<\/p>\n<p>Competing in a \u2018weaker\u2019 field, Berrettini may fancy his chances of making a deep run.<\/p>\n<p>Top eight seeds in Stockholm1. Casper Ruud2. Tommy Paul3. Ugo Humbert4. Denis Shapovalov5. Grigor Dimitrov6. Tallon Griekspoor7. Cameron Norrie8. Alexandre Muller<\/p>\n<p>Only time will tell if Berrettini can make his presence felt in Stockholm later this year, but he won\u2019t want to get too far ahead of himself, as he first focuses on the upcoming Japan Open.<\/p>\n<p>The 2025 Japan Open will begin on Wednesday, September 24.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Matteo Berrettini returned to tennis in Hangzhou after three months out. Having last played a match at Wimbledon,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":169157,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[430,100516,100517,13679,99,428],"class_list":{"0":"post-169156","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-atp","9":"tag-hangzhou-open","10":"tag-matteo-berrettini","11":"tag-paolo-bertolucci","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-tennis"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=169156"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169156\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/169157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=169156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=169156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=169156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}