"It was a weird year with Novak Djokovic not playing most of the Slams, but Carlos Alcaraz deserves the World No. 1" - Matteo Berrettini
Matteo Berrettini has praised Carlos Alcaraz for taking his chances in the 2022 season to rise to the top of the men's game.
The Spaniard was ranked World No. 31 going into his first tournament of the year, the Australian Open. He defeated Alejandro Tabilo and Dusan Lajovic in straight sets to reach the third round, where he lost to Berrettini in five sets.
The youngster bounced back immediately by winning the ATP 500 Rio Open, defeating Berrettini in the quarterfinals en route to the title. It was the first of his five titles for the year, with the rest being the ATP 500 Barcelona Open, two Masters 1000s in Miami and Madrid, and his maiden Grand Slam triumph at the US Open.
Speaking about Carlos Alcaraz's achievements with Arab News, Berrettini stated that his achievements feel "unbelievable" and "impressive".
"It feels unbelievable if you think about it, what he [Carlos Alcaraz] achieved in such a short time. I remember playing him in Australia at the beginning of the year and I played him Rio as well, and I felt he is a great player but what he did is still impressive for his age. The physicality he already has and everything, also mentally it’s not easy to deal with everything that he dealt with, so it’s impressive," Berrettini said.
Novak Djokovic butting heads with the law in various countries due to his stance on not getting the COVID-19 vaccine forced him to miss several big tournaments throughout the year, including two Grand Slams (Australian Open and US Open) and a handful of Masters 1000 events, among others. His sole Major win of the year came at the Wimbledon Championships, a tournament that was stripped of its ranking points this season.
While Berrettini acknowledged that the Serbian's forced absence might have played a part in Alcaraz's rise to the top of the ATP rankings, the Italian believes that the 19-year-old deserves the World No. 1 rank.
"At the same time we know that tennis it’s really tough, but it’s not impossible, we all know we can play our best tennis, I have to say it was a weird year with Novak not playing most of the slams, it was kind of a little weird. But Carlos deserves the world No. 1," he expressed.
Alcaraz's rise, coupled with Daniil Medvedev's stint as the No. 1 in the rankings, has given other players the belief that they could also break the barrier and reach the top, despite Djokovic and Rafael Nadal still going strong on the tour.
"I think everybody now is like, OK, he did it, yeah maybe it changed [our mentality] a little bit, it’s like maybe we can do it as well. Before world No. 1 was Novak and Rafa, Daniil [Medvedev] already did it, which was impressive, but now, even Casper [Ruud] had the chance to be No. 1 after the US Open," he stated.
Alexander Zverev believes Carlos Alcaraz "took his chance" in Novak Djokovic's absence at 2022 US Open
Alexander Zverev echoed Matteo Berrettini's views about Carlos Alcaraz taking his chances in Novak Djokovic's absence.
While the German expressed his surprise at Alcaraz winning the US Open and rising to the top of the ATP rankings, he stated that the 19-year-old proved he was the best player at the New York Grand Slam and completely deserves the title and the accolades.
"There were a lot of factors at play, Novak wasn't at the US Open, Rafa maybe wasn't at 100 percent, Daniil after his back injury and surgery wasn't quite where he was either last year with his tennis. So he [Carlos Alcaraz] took his chance. Hats off! He was the best player in New York," Alexander Zverev expressed.