Last week’s Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini was celebrated by Italian President Sergio Mattarella in Rome on Monday.
Mattarella held a public ceremony to award Berrettini’s final and the triumph of the Italian team against England at the European Championships football team.
Berrettini watched the Euro 2021 Football Championships final from the stands with his girlfriend Ajla Tomljanovic, as Italy beat England 3-2 on penalties.
“I wanted to see this match live to let the disappointment go. It was cool. I was very nervous than my parents were during my Wimbledon final”, said Berrettini.
Berrettini flew to Rome on Monday, where he was invited to join the celebrations at the Quirinale Palace, the official residence of Sergio Mattarella, the President of Italian Republic.
Berrettini gave one of his tennis raquets to President Mattarella.
At the 2021 Wimbledon Championships Berrettini reached his second straight Grand Slam quarter final after beating Ilya Ivashka. The Italian player Canadian Next Gen player Felix Auger Aliassime in four sets to reach his first Wimbledon semifinal and his second Grand Slam semifinal. He became the first Italian male player in the Open Era to reach the Wimbledon semifinals and the second player from his country in history since Nicola Pietrangeli in 1960.
Berrettini beat Hubert Hurkacz 6-3 6-0 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 in the semifinal to become the first Italian player, man or woman, in history to reach the singles final at Wimbledon and the first Italian man to reach a Grand Slam final since Adriano Panatta at 1976 Roland Garros.
Berrettini rallied from 2-5 down and saved a set point to claim the tie-break of the first set 7-4 in the final against world number 1 Novak Djokovic. The Serbian star came back to win the final in four sets 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 6-4 6-3. “The most important thing for me is that right now I am losing against the best players in the world. In Paris I lost against Djokovic, and he won the tournament. In Queen’s I won the tournament, and then I lost against him again here. It means that my level is growing. It means my weapons and my tennis is growing. That’s the right path”, said Berrettini.
