Matteo Berrettini – Page 2 – TennisReporters.net

2021 Roland Garros: 8 men to reach the quarters

While he’s No. 2, Danill Medvedev doesn’t like clay, so he could go down in the first week. Roger Federer is just starting again, and while he is very intelligent, he needs another month to be totally respectable.

Here are eight players who will reach the middle of the second week.

Novak Djokovic
Yes, the consistent, smart and his phenomenal backhand might make him the best player ever. His serve can be a weapon, he can bend down at the net for winners and put it away and hit ground strokes with the best. Even though he likes clay, but he his better on the hardcourts. He has won RG only one time, which is good, but not great. To beat Rafa Nadal on the dirt, the No. 1 will have to reach the heights. Maybe he will never win again in Paris.

Rafa Nadal
The Spaniard as won it 13 times, which is one of the sports most amazing records. His forehand is very hefty, he can spin it, and shatter it. He can knock it crosscourt, down the line, and in the center right at the chest. His serve is cold-blooded and he can twist it to the left, and to the right. Over the past month, he looked decent, but not great. Still, Nadal is a huge favorite once again.

Dominic Thiem
The Belgian really thinks that he can win it for the first time in Paris. He reached the final twice. He can be confident, but Nadal beat him and can do it again. Over the last couple years, he certainly became substantially better. He added with more game. He could win this event, but he has to play 100 percent in the final to bag it.

Stefanos Tsitsipas
The Greek has become thoughtful and more focused. This year, he has beaten some excellent players, ponding then with his heavy strokes. He is alert, he can be locked in, and he finally likes to slide. He really believes that he is one of the best players currently. Maybe he will be, eventually, but to become No. 1, he has to win a Slam or two.

Alexander Zverev
You never know how well the German will play. He can be phenomenal, and then, he can be ticked off when he isn’t playing well. From the backcourt, he can run for a long time, and he can be super consistent, and he can punch for a winner. He did that when he won in Madrid a few weeks ago. Yes, he was close to winning a Grand Slam when he fell to Thiem at last year’s US Open and he has won a few ATP 1000s. So, in a sense, he is right there. Eventually, he can win a major soon, but at RG in June? Not quite yet.

Andrey Rublev
The Russian was on fire in the first three months, but in April, he beganto skit. He became more aggressive and stronger. But, he can be very good, and bad, winning and losing. He is only 22 years old, so he is trying to be more consistent. He probably will, as long as he can find a more complete game. And learn.

Matteo Berrettini
The 25-year-old Italian has become a very terrific player, upsetting Thiem, Rublev and Gael Monfils. In 2019, he won a lot of matches, on the clay, grass and the hard courts . The No. 9 is very tall and he can rip the ball, but he needs to step it up a little bit. On clay at RG, if he wants to go deep, he has to take more chances.

Casper Ruud
The Norwegian just won Geneva. The week before in Madrid he lost in the semis, to … guess who? Yes, Berrettini. That is very close. Once again, he is only 22 years old, and he likes to hustle, and he is pretty consistent. To go much further though, he has to push himself more.

TennisReporters.net 2020 year-end review: top 6-10, men

10. Matteo Berrettini
He watches various sports, and he goes to cheer. And he also pays attention. He likes swimming, football and judo. In 2019, the Italian grew up, and upset Dominic Thiem, before losing to Alexander Zverev in Shanghai. At the US Open, he upset Andrey Rublev before he lost to Rafa Nadal. Overall, though, in 2020, he looked OK, but not great. He went 9-6 this year. That was almost mediocre. In January, he needs to harness his skills and make a statement.

9. Diego Schwartzman
He can scrape, run around and get to most ball. He has added to a few more shots. This year, he upset Nadal in Rome, and then at Roland Garros a couple weeks later, he also shocked Dominic Thiem in the fifth set. But in the semis, Nadal kicked him out. He has a very respectable ground game, but he has get do closer to the net and improve his second serve. To get higher than his one week at No. 8, he must develop more weapons.

8. Andrey Rublev
The Russian finally climbed up the rankings, figuring out that in order to be steady, he needed to suffer. He won Hamburg, St. Petersburg and Vienna. He said it best about his 2020 campaign: “This year I win more tournaments than in my career. I win more matches than in my career. I can be only grateful for the season. I become top 10 for the first time. So the season was amazing for me.” The 23-year-old player showed more smarts. His first serve packs plenty of power and produces a lot of aces. But, he must to get better, each month to challenge the best. He did have a fine year. In 2021, I expect more of the same.

7. Alexander Zverev
Next year, the German will continue to elevate or sputter. At the 2020 US Open in the final, it was a tremendous match, toe-to-toe, between Zverev vs Thiem. The corners were tremendous, they hit some gigantic forehands and backhands. Both would were tired, but in the end, Thiem beats Zverev 7-6 (6) in the final. But, Thiem showed more daring and guts. Zverev backed off and was very upset to let his first Grand Slam slip away. He can be irritable, but when he is thinking hard, then he can blast the ball. However, he slips in and out of synch. In the fall, he won Cologne, he upset Nadal in semis at the ATP 1000 Paris. But in the ATP Finals in London, he couldn’t reach the semis. He was ready to go home, but he was still upset in New York — two months later — and, he is still recalling. “The US Open match obviously still hurts, but all the other ones, it’s great that I’m playing at this level again. Still, it was a good year and there is a lot to build on for next year.” Yes, but he has to deal with off-court issues: Olya Sharypova’s abuse allegations and another ex-girlfriend, Brenda Patea, who is pregnant and claims he is the father.

6. Stefano Tsitsipas
The Greek can be very intense, and on court, his eyes are lucid. After he lost against Nadal in London at the ATP Finals, he said, ‘I should have handled it a little bit more clever and patiently, but it didn’t happen. My serve was not there when I needed it, you just have to be there. I wasn’t fully present. I wasn’t playing in the moment.” He also said that he was very disappointed. He actually had a good year, but not perfect. Over the past two years, of course, Tsitsipas has beaten a lot of good players. He has beaten top-20 players, but his nerves get in the way. He lost to Milos Raonic, Novak Djokovic, Borna Coric, Rublev, Grigor Dimitrov and Thiem. He has a lot of shots, and it can also be much too erratic. Meaning, if he wants to a Slam for the first time in 2021, he has to be composed.