Matteo Berrettini beat 15th seed Alex De Minaur 6-3 6-4 6-4 to reach the third round at Wimbledon. Berrettini, who finished runner-up to Novak Djokovic in the final of the Wimbledon tournament in 2021, won 88% of his first service point and saved all three of the break points he faced.
Berrettini arrived at Wimbledon without a match win since the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters. He bounced back by winning two matches against his compatriot Lorenzo Soengo and De Minaur.
Berrettini earned the first break in the second game of the opening set. De Minaur saved three double break points in the sixth game. Berrettini dropped just three points on his serve to win the first set 6-3.
De Minaur saved an early break point in the first game of the second set, but he did not convert two break points in the second game. Djokovic broke serve in the third game to take a 2-1 lead. De Minaur saved a set point in the ninth game. Berrettini converted his third break point in the 10th game to seal the second set 6-4.
Both players held on their serve until the fifth game, when Berrettini broke serve at deuce on his first opportunity. Berrettini held on his next service games to close out the third set 6-4 after 2 hours and 11 minutes.
“I am really happy with the performance. I think I played really well from the very first point until the end. Something that I actually did not expect that much”, said Berrettini.
Berrettini set up a third round match against Alexander Zverev, who beat Japanese Yosuke Watanuki 6-4 5-7 6-2 6-2 in 2 hours and 35 minutes.
Zverev broke in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead and held his service games to win the first set. The second set went on serve until the 12th game when Watanuki earned his first break to win the second set 7-5.
Zverev broke serve in the third and fifth games in both the third and fourth sets.
“He is one the best grass grass-court players in the last few hours. He made the Wimbledon final in 2021, won at the Queen’s Club two times. Definitely it’s his best surface. It’s definitely one to look out for”, said Zverev.
Zverev leads 4-1 in his five head-to-head matches against Berrettini.
Jannik Sinner beat Quentin Halys 3-6 6-2 6-3 6-4 to reach the fourth round. Sinner did not convert an early break point at the start of the first set. Halys earned a break in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead. The Frenchman held on his service games to win the first set 6-3. Sinner bounced back by breaking serve in the second and eighth games to win the second set 6-2.
The third ste went on serve until the sixth game when Sinner converted his third break point to take a 4-2 lead. The Italian player held on his next service games to win the third set 6-3.
Halys saved an early break point in the first game of the fourth set. The Frenchman earned the break in the second game, but Sinner broke straight back in the next game. Sinner saved a break point in the fourth game. Sinner did not convert a break point in the fifth game, but he broke serve in the ninth game to take a 5-4 lead. Sinner served out the wi at 15.
“I did not start as I wanted, but I found the rhythm to win the match. I thank the crowd, who supported me”, said Sinner
