"In Rome I could no longer go to a restaurant"

Matteo Berrettini is ready for his debut at the ATP Finals against the 16-time Slam champion Novak Djokovic. The Italian tennis player was the protagonist of a fantastic season: he won the Stuttgart and Budapest tournaments, reached the semi-finals at US Open, earned the top ten and closed in the eighth place of the Race to London.

In an exclusive interview with Corriere della Sera, Berrettini spoke about his upcoming challenges and future goals. "After Roger Federer to Wimbledon is Rafael Nadal in New York, here is Nole. I'm ready, excited but ready.

Feeling gratitude for all the wonders that have happened to me this year does not mean sitting down. I will be competitive. From 54 to 8 in ten months? I like taking notes on the iPad, I wrote it in my journal the other day: this roller coaster makes my head spin but I like it.

On happiness I'm working with Stefano, my mental coach. The space to rejoice is necessarily cut out: the night I lost to Tsonga in Paris, I forced myself to open a bottle of champagne. Beyond the result, it was the right recognition to myself.

I found out more than I thought I was. I already knew I was determined, bullshit, a real athlete. But the difficulties of the US Open made me realize that I have so many things inside. I'm glad my human side is also coming out, because I'm a guy who tends to keep everything inside.

Bringing out who I am is my strength. Vincenzo Santopadre, my coach for ten years, he has raised me like this: first comes the man, then the tennis player. If I'm like this, it's because my family is like that.

My mental coach has discovered my soul before me, but I'm slowly getting there too. In addition to straight and backhands, put who you are on the field. And real life, however, is out of tennis "A Berrettini was then asked what had been the greatest emotion experienced in this 2019.

"The match with Nadal at the US Open. The whole journey in New York was crazy. If I think about the quarter-final with Gael Monfils I'm still shivering. The match points, the double foul, 7-6 to the fifth … all incredible "

Berrettini finally focused on the relationship with his new girlfriend, the Australian tennis player Ajla Tomljanovic. "Ajla has a good soul, I would even say pure, that I had to discover step by step. For his education and culture, he had put on a rind: he intrigued me to go in search, to go further.

And what I found struck me. We understand each other on the fly. Tuesday he will land here in London, he came to Vienna: he understands my times, he doesn't bother me, he knows that when I'm not with her I'm busy doing what a tennis player needs "

Finally on the criticisms received for having moved from Rome to Monte Carlo: "I find it hard to see it as a defect. Rome has become difficult to manage: I can no longer go to the restaurant. If one wants to go abroad, what's wrong? Those who attack me do not know me, they do not know who they are. I am used to criticism: with that forehand and backhand you go nowhere, little boy, they told me. "