Rome Italy) – After an interview full of doubts before his debut at the Masters 1000 and Rome, Italian Matteo Berrettini ended up withdrawing from the tournament this Wednesday. His place will be taken by the North American lucky-loser JJ Wolf, number 101 in the world, who will face home tennis player Stefano Napolitano (125th) in the first round.
“In the end it seemed right to talk to you directly. I’m not ready to compete and I run the risk of getting injured and having to stop again, which is the last thing I want. I set aside my heart to do what is right. We hope that 2025 will be a good year”, said Berrettini in a short press conference called at the last minute.
The time for his return does not seem far away, but the home tennis player preferred not to set a date or tournament. “In my head it is difficult to say, I hope to return before Paris or to Paris. I need to get back into rhythm, with the right steps to take when you’re stuck for a while. But I’m not ready for tomorrow either”, explained the current 95th in the world.
“Fortunately it is not an injury, it is not a trauma. It’s the feeling that something could happen because I took something that weakened me a lot. With the medicine I took and what I did to recover, I don’t feel prepared to play three hours tomorrow and three more after two days”, said Berrettini.
“I want to play in this tournament to be competitive and feel good, if I can’t do that it’s not worth playing, because of my story and what I’m trying to achieve. I will be back on the court soon, but there is a lot of sadness because this is the tournament that made me choose this profession and in the last three years I have not been able to play”, concluded the former top 10 player.
“I’m only here because it’s Rome”, says Berrettini
Tags: Berrettini withdraws Rome ready compete
