Italy’s Matteo Berrettini says it is an ‘honour’ to be representing his country at the United Cup alongside players who he grew up with after sealing Italy’s place in the Brisbane final.
The former Wimbledon runner-up defeated world No.3 Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-4, to give his team a decisive 3-0 lead in their tie against Norway. Berrettini was particularly impressive behind his serve as he produced 10 aces and won 88% of his first service points. It is the first time he has beaten two-time Grand Slam finalist Ruud since 2021 after losing to him twice last year. Their head-to-head is now tied at 4-4.
“Casper, he’s a super-solid player, he improved so much in the past year. So I knew that I had to serve my best,” Berrettini said afterwards. “We know each other pretty well, so we’re kind of always studying what we’re doing and I knew that I had to serve like that. One thing is knowing and one thing is doing it, but I’m really glad it worked out pretty well and happy.”
Following Berrettini’s win, Italy went on to seal a perfect 5-0 win in the tie. Lucia Bronzetti won the second women’s match 6-2, 7-5, against Ulrikke Eikeri who is ranked more than 300 places lower than her. Then in the mixed doubles, Camilla Rosatello and Lorenzo Musetti defeated Eikeri and Viktor Durasovic 7-6(6), 6-2.
Italy, who also beat Brazil earlier in the tournament, topped Group E by winning eight out of 10 matches played. They will play either Switzerland or Poland next.
“The goal is to have the longest run possible. It’s super nice to play with my teammates. We know each other since a really young age. It’s crazy and now we’re representing Italy. It’s such an honour for us,” Berrettini commented. “The other day at dinner we were talking about when we were 12 playing against each other. It’s super nice and I’m really happy. It’s the first time obviously playing with the girls and I think it’s special, different, maybe a little bit more stressful. But we’re enjoying [it] a lot.”
Greece reach Perth final
Elsewhere at the mixed event, there was a double reason for Greece to celebrate. After opening up a 2-0 lead against Belgium on Monday, Maria Sakkari sealed her country’s overall tie win by defeating Elise Mertens 6-1, 7-5. In doing so, Greece has secured their place at the top of Group A and will progress to the final.
“It was a very solid match from my side,” said Sakkari who broke Mertens six times in the match.
“Obviously I was nervous in the beginning because I knew my match was crucial, but I managed to play a good game, even though in some moments it wasn’t pretty. I’m very happy I was able to get us through the group stages.”
Mertens has been ranked as high as 12th in the world but she was far from her best against Sakkari. The Belgian was down 1-6, 1-3, before holding serve for the first time and producing a costly 32 unforced errors.
Following Sakkari, Greece recorded another stunning win after world No.803 Stefanos Sakellaridis bounced back from a set down to defeat Zizou Berges 5-7, 6-1, 6-3. Sakellaridis hadn’t played in an ATP-level event until the United Cup and he is yet to win a singles title of any sort as a professional player.
“I don’t know what to say,” Sakellaridis said during his on-court interview. “I came into this match with zero expectation, I just said ‘I’m going to play my match and I’m going to enjoy it’. Obviously, I enjoyed it to the maximum I could, and the win was a bonus, I could never imagine [it].”
