Wimbledon 2021: Matteo Berrettini becomes the first Italian of the All England Club to reach the men’s singles final

Italian tennis player Matteo Berrettini punched the ticket to the Wimbledon final on Friday 6-3, 6-0, 6-7 (3) and beat Hubert Hurkacz 6-4. The win saw him reach No. 7 in the tournament as the first Italian man to enter the Wimbledon singles final and the first man to reach any Grand Slam final in 1976.

“I think I never dreamed of this because it was too much to dream about,” Berrettini said in an interview on the court. “I am very happy”.

It is the first Grand Slam final of his career, a month after he made his quarter-final appearance at the French Open. As a reward for the win, Novak Djokovic will have to be a five-time Wimbledon champion.

But in the future he will have to cross that bridge, even if it is immediate. For now, the focus should be on the performance that prevented Hurkacz. After 11 consecutive games, Berrettini had to face Hurkacz’s return in the third set, a seventh-place finish that looked set to knock out the opponent in the finals in a straight set. Berrettini ended the match with a five-pointer during the final service and then closed the game.

Although the victory was somewhat dominant, Berrettini’s opponent was not mediocre. In fact, Hurkacz Roger Federer was eliminated from the playoffs in a straight set.