Matteo Berrettini becomes the first Italian man to reach semifinals of Australian Open

Matteo Berrettini (Google Images)

According to the Associated Press on Tuesday, Matteo Berrettini, the number seven seed, became the first Italian man to reach the semifinals of the Australian Open. Berrettini of Rome, Italy, needed five sets to beat the 17th seed, Gael Monfils of France, 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 3-6, 6-2.

Berrettini was one of two players to win a five-set match in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. The other was 2009 Australian Open champion Rafael Nadal of Spain. Seeded sixth at the 2009 Australian Open, Nadal beat the 14th seed, Denis Shapovalov of Canada, 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3.

In Berrettini’s win over Monfils, from a statistical perspective the match was extremely even. The one statistic that stands out however was double faults as Berrettini only had two, while Monfils had seven.

This is the third time in Berrettini’s career he has reached a grand slam semifinal. He made the semifinals of the 2019 United States Open, and the finals of the 2021 Wimbledon before losing to Novak Djokovic of Serbia. Berrettini will next play Nadal in the semifinals.

In the past, three Italians had reached the quarterfinals in men’s singles at the Australian Open. In 1935, Giorgio de Stefani of Verona lost to Fred Perry of Great Britain, 6-0, 6-0, 6-0. In 1957, Nicola Pietrangeli of Rome lost to Mal Anderson of Australia, 9-7, 9-7, 6-2. Then in 1991, Cristiano Caratti of Acqui Terme lost to Patrick McEnroe of the United States, 7-6, 6-3, 4-6, 4-6, 6-2.

In fact Berrettini may not be the only Italian to play in the semifinals of the 2022 Australian Open. That is because Jannik Sinner of San Candido is in the quarterfinals on Wednesday against Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece.

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