World No. 14 Matteo Berrettini marches into his second quarterfinal in a row at the U.S. Open and will face fifth seed Casper Ruud, who ousted lucky loser Corentin Moutet, on Tuesday at Flushing Meadows, for a place in the last four.
NEW YORK - Italian player Matteo Berrettini emerged victorious from a dramatic five-set battle against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina on Sunday to reach the major’s quarterfinals for the second consecutive year.
In his post-match press conference, Sports Pundit spoke to the Italian player.
What will you take from today’s match into the next? And what things will you improve?
“I will take a lot of stuff. Mentally, I was really good because I wasn’t feeling great mentally in the beginning. My tennis was there, but I was kind of not really into the match, and I was able to switch this. That’s important that you can do it during the match, learning, processing what is happening, and then figuring it out and getting better. So that’s one thing, for sure.”
The weather conditions challenged the players as the humidity was high in New York, with temperatures rising through the three hours and 45 minutes matchup.
In that regard, he outlined: “Physically, I proved myself, once again, that I’m good at best-of-five, and I was feeling good. I was ready for the fight in tough conditions.”
The 13th seed will next play World No. 7, Casper Ruud, on Tuesday for a place in the Grand Slam semifinals.
Speaking about the areas with room for improvement ahead of his next match against the first Norwegian man to reach the quarterfinals in New York, the Italian stressed: “There is always something you can improve. Hit more winners, miss less, and serve better. But the important thing is to play well in important moments. That’s what I did today.”
“I know, I have to play at a really high level against Casper, but I’m feeling ready.”
Watch the full press conference here.
Ruud leads their Head2Head series 3-2, having met for the last time in Gstaad late in July at the EFG Swiss Open, contested on clay.
The 23-year-old from Oslo retained his title at the ATP 250 tournament by prevailing over Berrettini in the championship match 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-2, securing his ninth ATP Tour crown.
One of the two career triumphs the 26-year-old produced over the Roland Garros runner-up took place at the American major in their 2020 third-round clash when Vicenzo Santopadre’s pupil edged the latter 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.
En route to his maiden quarterfinal appearance at the event, Ruud has beat Briton Kyle Edmund, Dutchman Tim van Rijthoven, 29th seed Tommy Paul, and French lucky loser Corentin Moutet.
The Frenchman tested Norway’s number one racquet on Sunday across their three hours and 20 minutes clash, which saw Ruud dropping a set before claiming the win on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Moreover, the victory over Moutet sent Ruud into the fourth round of the competition.
As of today, the Roman-born player achieved his best result at the U.S. Open in 2019 when he moved into the last four, losing to the eventual champion, Rafael Nadal, in straight sets.
The Australian Open semifinalist, who missed the French Open due to a hand injury, which required surgery, and Wimbledon, as he tested positive for COVID-19, feels confident and comfortable playing in New York hard courts.
His current run includes solid victories over Chile’s qualifier Nicolas Jarry, lucky loser Hugo Grenier, former champion Andy Murray and Davidovich Fokina at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
The stakes are high for the winner of this match, who will either face in-form Nick Kyrgios, who stunned defending champion Daniil Medvedev on Sunday night, or 27th seed Karen Khachanov.
The latter rallied to outlast the National Bank Open presented by Rogers champion, Pablo Carreno Busta, to move into his third career Grand Slam quarterfinal.
Only one of these four players will make it into the final.