Matteo Berrettini and Jannik Sinner can win Grand Slams this year, predicts coaching legend Riccardo Piatti
Jannik Sinner's excellent form in recent times, coupled with Matteo Berrettini's profiency on grass, has prompted Ricardo Piatti to declare that both Italians stand a chance to emerge triumphant at Grand Slam tournaments this season.
Piatti, who worked with Jannik Sinner until February 2022, feels that the current World No. 12 is capable of winning on any surface, while Berrettini will be hard to beat on grass.
Sinner has been in stupendous form this season, having won the Open Sud de France before getting to the final at Rotterdam.
Riccardo Piatti🎙
"#Sinner e #Berrettini possono vincere uno Slam quest'anno, hanno fatto gli step necessari. #Musetti è un po' più indietro.
Rammarico? Dico Raonic, pensavo diventasse fortissimo. Ha ripreso ad allenarsi, tornerà per la stagione su erba"
Via @ilmessaggeroit
"Sinner and Berrettini can win a Grand Slam this year because they have taken all the necessary steps to get to this [position."
"Jannik can win on any surface, on grass Matteo will be very hard to beat for everyone: for me it was right to stop and I hope pay attention to how he plays on clay and American hard to give his best on the green," Piatti explained during the course of an interaction with Ubitennis.
Matteo Berrettini, meanwhile, has proven his grass court credentials by advancing to the final of the 2021 Wimbledon Championships, where he went down to Novak Djokovic.
@DStarmanHockey Agreed. Novak will be tough, Berrettini winning Queens Club I think gives him a chance.
After winning the Queen's Club Championships for a second consecutive time last year, Berrettini had to withdraw from SW19 after testing positive for COVID-19.
Piatti also reckoned that another Italian hopeful, Lorenzo Musetti, has some distance to cover but is learning from his losses.
"Musetti is a little further back: he is learning from lost matches," the seasoned coach opined.
Matteo Berrettini will make this third appearance at Queen's Club this year
Matteo Berretini will make his third appearance at his favorite venue, the Queen's Club Championships, later this year. He is the eighth player in history to have registered successive wins in the tournament and only the second in the Open era to have achieved the feat following his debut.
Berrettini’s Back!
Back-to-back champion Matteo Berrettini will return to The Queen’s Club, for the cinch Championships 2023. 🏆
Will he defend his title to win three consecutive Queens Club Championships 🎾
Guarantee your place on Centre Court now! keithprowse.co.uk/queens-club/qu… https://t.co/NWaP3FDhr1
Back in 2021, Matteo Berrettini got past Andy Murray in the second round before accounting for Daniel Evans and Alex de Minaur en route to a title-round clash against Cameron Norrie.
The Brit won the second-set tie-break after having lost the opening set, but went down in the decider 6-4, 6(5)-7, 6-3.
Matteo Berrettini was back in business last year, defeating Tommy Paul in the quarterfinals before beating Botic van de Zandschulp in the semifinals.
Matteo Berrettini beats Filip Krajinovic 7-5, 6-4, defends his title at the Queen's Club.
9-0 on grass in 2022, 20-1 since 2021, 32-3 since 2019.
8th ever player to defend a title in this tournament -- *all* the other 7 were former #1s. https://t.co/AParyC4Rhn
A 7-5, 6-4 straight-sets victory against Filip Krajinovic of Serbia enabled the 26-year-old to enter the history books before a COVID-19 infection played spoilsport ahead of his 2022 Wimbledon campaign.