Goal: get my rhythm back

Berrettini played pretty well last week, but it was too hard physically to keep going back-to-back

Real drop in form for the Italian in the second round after a first round that was overall under control and not even that long; you can tell he’s lacking matches. He said it himself, the problem wasn’t his tennis. Now he’s back in Rio and I find the conditions even worse, it’s heavier and more humid, and if he doesn’t win his match quickly he could crack physically, watch out. That said, it’s his first round and he’s had a few days of rest, so normally he’s supposed to hold up and then crack in R2! The other reassuring point is his opponent: Barrios is really not good at all at the moment and just lost in qualifying, actually. Last week he “won” a match by saving match point and then Seyboth got injured, and after that he got thrashed by Darderi. Now he loses in qualies to Prizmic and doesn’t inspire confidence. In terms of playing style, he’s a fairly heavy, tall guy, he doesn’t like being moved around, and that’s also good for Berrettini, who isn’t facing a big grinder either.