Like in the good old days

A Zverev/Berrettini match used to be right at the top of the rankings; one of them is still there, but the other one...

Berrettini is working hard to get back to his best level, but he’s still a long way off. His last tournaments during the Golden Swing confirmed that, and I can’t say his first round against Mannarino was reassuring. It was even disastrous for a large part of the match, but his best weapon didn’t let him down: his mentality. The Italian will fight until the end and he showed it again, but he did cramp in the third set and after match point he stayed on his side for a little while, the physio came over. Apparently he caught a chill a few days ago, not great, especially since he just played a long match and now plays Zverev right after!!

The German is also still looking for his best tennis, but there are some improvements at times. His first-round loss in Acapulco was obviously disappointing, but Kecmanovic played a mutant-level match and seems to piss him off every time. Zverev made up for it with the doubles title afterward, always a nice little bonus. Strangely, he doesn’t have a huge record in this tournament; with the conditions, I thought he’d already taken the title or at least made a final, but no, only 2 quarterfinals to his name. For his opening match he doesn’t have an easy one, but I really don’t see how Berrettini can beat him with his current level; the Italian will have to bring out his very best. He’s already beaten Zverev in Monte Carlo, Rome and Wimbledon—those are two home tournaments and Wimbledon, where he’s the hardest to beat—otherwise I don’t think his game particularly bothers Z. You’d need a Berrettini 5x better than in the last match and a bad Zverev to really believe in it..