Two things that stood out in Lorenzo Sonego's 1R win over Matteo Berrettini at Stuttgart Open
Lorenzo Sonego of Italy thrashed his compatriot and defending champion Matteo Berrettini 6-1, 6-2 in the first round of the 2023 BOSS Open on Monday, June 12.
The match lasted less than two hours as the 27-year-old made a tame exit from the first tournament of the grasscourt season. It was a setback for him before the start of the Wimbledon Championships, which get underway in the first week of July.
The former Wimbledon runner-up was making a comeback in Stuttgart after an injury forced him to withdraw before the third round of the 2023 Monte Carlo Open in April. However, he was no match for his countryman in the opening round on Monday.
The younger Italian, who is one of the few active players in the world who rate grass as their favorite surface, looked out of sorts against Sonego. He will not get too many opportunities to play himself into form before the start of Wimbledon in the first week of July.
On that note, let us take a look at two things that stood out in the match:
#1. Lorenzo Sonego took advantage of Matteo Berrettini’s rustiness in the first set
Sonego made full use of Berrettini’s sluggish movement in the first set by hitting a lot of winners off his forehand. The 21st-ranked Italian was understandably rusty after a long lay-off and struggled to move quickly to retrieve his 28-year-old opponent’s groundstrokes off the forehand.
The World No. 41 broke Berrettini twice in the first set to get in the driver's seat. He ran around his backhand often to hit inside-out and inside-in forehands repeatedly. He also served well and gave his opponent no chance to get a break of serve.
#2. Younger Italian's casual approach did not help his cause in the second set
Matteo Berrettini started coming to the net more frequently in the second set, but his somewhat casual approach hurt his cause. He failed to hit a few straightforward volleys and smashes for winners and thereby, gifted those points to Sonego.
The older Italian broke his opponent twice more in the second set and never lost his serve to ease towards a win.
Berrettini won only 50% and 46% of the points on his first and second serves, respectively, and bowed out quite meekly. He also looked quite crestfallen after the early exit. In fact, he was reduced to tears, which prompted the spectators to cheer him up.