Berrettini, Matteo (1996- )

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    In Tennis, Bookends of Drama in 2023

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    The year was full of unlikely winners and exciting team competitions.There was no champagne courtside. So, as Matteo Berrettini embraced Jannik Sinner after Sinner’s victory over Alex de Minaur last month to clinch Italy’s first Davis Cup title in 47 years, their teammate, Matteo Arnaldi, did the next best thing: He shook a water bottle and poured it over Sinner and Berrettini.Sinner, 22, ended the season with his 20th win in his last 23 matches. This year, he had a 64-15 record, won four tournaments, reached the semifinals at Wimbledon and was runner-up at the ATP Finals in Turin, Italy. He had wins over the three top-ranked players — Novak Djokovic, whom he beat twice in two weeks, Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev. Starting 2023 at No. 15, he ended it at No. 4.Djokovic sorely wanted to lead Serbia to just its second Davis Cup title. But in the semifinals, he fell to Sinner after squandering three match points and then teamed with Miomir Kecmanovic to lose the deciding doubles match to Sinner and Lorenzo Sonego. The loss sent Italy into the final, where it beat Australia.Jannik Sinner helped clinch Italy’s first Davis Cup title in 47 years this year. He also had a 64-15 record and won four tournaments.Jorge Guerrero/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesDjokovic was devastated by the defeat.“For me, personally, it’s a huge disappointment because I take the responsibility, obviously having three match points, being so close to win it,” he said after the match. “When you lose for your country, you know, the bitter feeling is even greater.”It is ironic that the season began and ended with exciting conclusions at the men’s and women’s team competitions. The Davis Cup and the Billie Jean King Cup have been under siege in recent years as many of the game’s top players, including Alcaraz, Taylor Fritz, Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula, shunned the historically heart-thumping, pride-producing finals because of scheduling conflicts. The U.S. women lost early in the finals, and the U.S. men didn’t even qualify as one of the top eight teams.Still, despite the player defections and a merry-go-round of format changes, both competitions provided some of the most striking moments of the year.Leylah Fernandez’s five wins helped lead Canada to its first-ever Billie Jean King Cup.Raul Caro/EPA, via ShutterstockLeylah Fernandez rode a wave of patriotic passion, winning five matches to lead Canada to its first Billie Jean King Cup. Her teammate, then-18-year-old Marina Stakusic, who had never won a WTA Tour match, became an overnight star when she won three matches against opponents ranked in the top 70.If 2022 was billed as the season of King Carlos when Alcaraz went from No. 32 to No. 1 on the strength of his U.S. Open championship, then this season mostly belonged to Djokovic.He is considered by many in the game as the greatest player ever. The statistics prove it.At 36, Djokovic had one of the best seasons of his career. For the third time since 2015, he reached the finals at all four majors, falling just shy of attaining the Grand Slam.In January, a year after being removed from Australia because of his refusal to be vaccinated against Covid-19, Djokovic returned to Melbourne Park and captured a record 10th Australian Open title by defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final. With the 14-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal injured for most of the season, Djokovic won his third French Open in June by beating Alcaraz and Casper Ruud.After falling to Alcaraz in a scintillating five-set Wimbledon final, Djokovic bounced back and beat Medvedev at the U.S. Open to earn his 24th major, surpassing Serena Williams. He is now just one win away from breaking the men’s and women’s major record held by Margaret Court for 50 years.Djokovic captured his record 10th Australian Open by defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final.Quinn Rooney/Getty ImagesIn all, Djokovic played just 12 tournaments in 2023 and he won seven of them. He did not lose from mid-July until mid-November, when he fell to Sinner during the round-robin portion of the ATP Finals. He then beat Sinner in the final after assuring the year-end No. 1 ranking for a record-extending eighth time.Alcaraz, who won six titles in 2023 on three different surfaces and reached the semifinals at the French and U.S. Opens, in addition to his Wimbledon win, ended the year ranked No. 2. But he was candid after he lost to Djokovic in the semifinals in Turin.“I am not at his level on an indoor court,” Alcaraz, 20, said in November. “He has shown why he is the best player in the world. I have to practice more to be a better player.”With his 66 wins, Medvedev led the ATP in match victories. He won 19 straight, and reached the finals at Indian Wells and the Miami Open, which he won. He also won at Rome and reached the semifinals at Wimbledon and was runner-up to Djokovic at the U.S. Open. He ended the year ranked No. 3.Two upstart players — the Americans Ben Shelton and Chris Eubanks — used their wide grins and whopping forehands to envelop the sport in a giant bear hug. Shelton, about two years away from leading the University of Florida to an N.C.A.A. championship, reached the quarterfinals at the Australian Open. He then reached the semifinals at the U.S. Open before falling to Djokovic. Eubanks, another former collegian, upset Cameron Norrie and Tsitsipas to reach the quarterfinals at Wimbledon.There was no shortage of compelling story lines among the women. Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka spent the season battling for tour supremacy.Sabalenka, only a year removed from serving woes so severe that she resorted to serving underhand during matches, won her first major at the Australian Open, a day she called the “best of my life.” She grabbed the No. 1 ranking after reaching the U.S. Open final.“It was amazing to see Sabalenka, who was basically laughed off that same court a year earlier, confront those demons and take responsibility,” Lindsay Davenport, three-time major winner and former No. 1, said by telephone last month.Swiatek took her third French Open and won six titles. But she faltered at both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open before regrouping by the WTA Finals, snatching the year-end No. 1 from Sabalenka by beating her and Pegula to take the title. Pegula, for her part, was one of just two players, along with No. 4 Elena Rybakina, to notch multiple wins over Swiatek this season.Marketa Vondrousova, who endured long stretches away from the game because of two wrist surgeries, became the first unseeded women’s Wimbledon winner when she beat Ons Jabeur in the final.Coco Gauff, 19, beat Aryna Sabalenka in three sets to win the U.S. Open.Hiroko Masuike/The New York TimesBut it was Gauff and her wise-beyond-her-years attitude who transcended the sport in a way that only Williams has done. When Gauff, 19, beat Sabalenka in three sets to win the U.S. Open, the nontennis world, including the former first lady Michelle Obama, went wild. In her acceptance speech, Gauff, who had struggled early in the season, addressed her doubters.“Thank you to the people who didn’t believe in me,” Gauff said. “To those who thought they were putting water on my fire, you were really adding gas to it.”It was the kind of bold statement that left even former major winners stunned. One of them was Davenport, who admitted to having tears run down her face while she did match commentary on television.“To me, the story of the year was Coco,” Davenport said. “Players come along once in a generation. When you have all the expectations on you at 12 and 15 years old and you are able to handle everything and then elevate your game to win, then you really are truly something special.” More

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      Extreme Heat, Torrential Rain Plagues Australian Open

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      At the first Grand Slam tournament of the tennis season, the heat got so intense that play was halted for most of the afternoon. In the evening, a torrential rain fell, halting play once more.MELBOURNE, Australia — This country has a well-earned reputation as a land of extremes: fatally poisonous snakes, deadly insects, killer crocodiles, drenching rains and brutal heat.The Australian Open got a fair dose of that Tuesday — well, not so much the killer bugs or crocs or snakes, though the park next to the tennis center does have signs warning visitors to beware of snakes. The heat got so intense that play was halted for most of the afternoon. In the evening, a torrential rain fell, halting play once more.Keeping with the theme of extreme, somewhere in the midst of all this weather, Andy Murray, the 35-year-old three-time Grand Slam winner and former world No. 1, somehow managed to turn back the clock and beat Matteo Berrettini of Italy in five sets, including a deciding super-tiebreaker at the end of the fifth set. The final score line looked like this: 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (10-6). The match lasted 4 hours 49 minutes. Murray, who is in the middle of a yearslong comeback from major hip surgery, saved a match point and played the final set with blood coming out of his knee after skinning it on the ground trying to win it in four.“I feel tired,” Murray said in his news conference a little more than two hours after he finished.“Impressive what he could do after so many surgeries, after all the kilometers that he ran in his career,” Berrettini said of Murray. “It just shows how much he loves the game, how much he loves these kind of matches.”Murray and Berrettini were lucky. They played in Rod Laver, one of three courts here with roofs, which were closed when organizers announced that while temperatures had not hit triple digits, the four climate factors they consider when deciding whether to halt play — air temperature, radiant heat, humidity and wind speed — had all tipped the scale.The 2023 Australian OpenThe year’s first Grand Slam tennis tournament runs from Jan. 16 to Jan. 29 in Melbourne.Missing Stars: Carlos Alcaraz, Naomi Osaka and Nick Kyrgios have all pulled out of the tournament. Alcaraz’s withdrawal means that the Australian Open will be without the men’s No. 1 singles player.Holger Rune’s Rise: Last year, the 19-year-old broke into the top 10, but not without some unwanted attention. We spoke to the young Dane ahead of his second Australian Open.Ben Shelton Goes Global: The 20-year-old American is ranked in the top 100 after a late-season surge last year. Now, he is embarking on his first full season on tour.A Waiting Game: Tennis matches can last a long time. Here’s how players waiting to take the court for the next match stay sharp.Taylor Fritz of the United States, who beat Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia in four sets, said he had felt far more discomfort in Washington, D.C., last summer or at the U.S. Open some years.“It’s dry heat,” said Fritz, who has spent plenty of afternoons in smothering humidity in Florida. “I don’t think it’s as bad.”The weather played havoc with the schedule, forcing many matches to postpone until Wednesday.Quinn Rooney/Getty ImagesThe weather played havoc with the schedule, and with rain forecast on and off through the evening it appeared that plenty of matches might not finish until Wednesday.If you like upsets, Tuesday was not your day. Murray’s was the big one. Berrettini, a finalist at Wimbledon in 2021, was the 13th seed, and with his big serve and forehand he can be as dangerous as anyone other than the nine-time champion Novak Djokovic, who beat Roberto Carballés Baena of Sapin in straight sets in the late match on Rod Laver, a court and time slot that Djokovic loves.Murray credited a three-week journey to Florida last year to train with Ivan Lendl, the coach who has been with him for many of his biggest wins. The past success creates trust, Murray said, and the confidence he needs to compete with players a decade or more his junior. He will face the winner of the match between Thanasi Kokkinakis, a hometown favorite, and Fabio Fognini of Italy on Thursday, when the high temperature is expected to be just 64 degrees Fahrenheit.It’s worth noting in the wake of Berrettini’s loss that there is some chatter going around Melbourne Park and social media about a Netflix curse. The thinking is that if you were featured in the Netflix series “Break Point,” the tennis gods are coming for you.Nick Kyrgios, Paula Badosa, and Ajla Tomljanovic all featured heavily in “Break Point” and had to pull out with injuries. Now Berrettini is out. Then again, Fritz and Felix Auger-Aliassime have survived. Eventually, the tennis gods come for everyone except one woman and one man.As for Wednesday, Rafael Nadal is scheduled to be back in action against Mackenzie McDonald of the United States in the afternoon, but the real star power is on the night schedule.Coco Gauff, the American star who is only 18, takes on Emma Raducanu, who won the U.S. Open in 2021 as a qualifier and has graced magazine covers ever since. If ever there was an early-round match worth setting an alarm for 3 a.m., this one might be it. More

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      Tennis Is Done With Covid-19, but the Virus Isn’t Done With Tennis

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      With testing, quarantine and isolation requirements all but gone, tennis finally seems to have entered a stage of pandemic apathy, much like a lot of society.WIMBLEDON, England — With the final match looming, this year’s edition of Wimbledon has already proven many points.Rafael Nadal can play top-level tennis with a zombie foot and a tear in an abdominal muscle, but only for so long. Iga Swiatek is beatable, at least on grass. With the Moscow-born, Kazakhstan-representing Elena Rybakina making the women’s singles final, barring Russian players does not necessarily make a competition free of Russian players.But perhaps most surprisingly, after 27 months of tournament cancellations, spectator-free events, constant testing and bubblelike environments, tennis may have finally moved past Covid-19.For nearly two years, longer than just about every other major sport, tennis struggled to coexist with the pandemic.Last November, when the N.F.L. the N.B.A., the Premier League and most other sports organizations had resumed a life that largely resembled 2019, tennis players were still living with restrictions on their movements, conducting online video news conferences, and having cotton swabs stuck up their noses at tournaments.A month later Novak Djokovic, then the No. 1 men’s singles player, contracted a second case of Covid just in time to secure, he thought, special entry into Australia to play the Australian Open, even though he was unvaccinated against Covid-19 and the country was still largely restricted to people who had been vaccinated. Australian officials ended up deporting him because they said he might encourage other people not to get vaccinated, a drama that dominated the run-up to the tournament and its first days.The episode crystallized how tennis, with its kinetic international schedule, had been subjected to the will and whims of local governments, with rules and restrictions shifting sometimes weekly. The frequent travel and communal locker rooms made the players something like sitting ducks, always one nasal swab away from being locked in a hotel room for 10 days, sometimes far from home, regardless of how careful they might have been.Tennis, unlike other sports that surged ahead of health and medical guidelines to keep their coffers filled, has had to reflect where society at large has been at every stage of the pandemic. Its major organizers canceled or postponed everything in the spring and early summer of 2020, though Djokovic held an exhibition tournament that ended up being something of a superspreader event.The 2020 U.S. Open took place on schedule in late summer without spectators. To be at the usually bustling Billie Jean King National Tennis Center those weeks in New York was something like being on the surface of the moon. A rescheduled French Open followed in the chill of a Paris fall with just a few hundred fans allowed. Australia largely subjected players to a 14-day quarantine before they could take part in the 2021 Australian Open.As vaccinations proliferated later in the year, crowds returned but players usually had to live in bubbles, unable to move about the cities they inhabited until the summer events in the U.S. But as the delta variant spread, the bubbles returned. Then came Australia and Djokovic’s vaccine confrontation, just as disputes over mandates were heating up elsewhere.In recent months though, as public attitudes toward the pandemic shifted, mask mandates were lifted and travel restrictions were eased, even tennis has seemingly moved on, even if the virus has not done the same.Matteo Berrettini wearing a mask after his quarterfinals match at Wimbledon in 2021.Alberto Pezzali/Associated PressThere was no mandatory testing for Wimbledon or the French Open. People are confused about what they must do if they get the sniffles or a sore throat, and tennis players are no different. Many players said they were not sure exactly what the rules were from tournament to tournament for those who started not to feel well. While two widely known players, Matteo Berrettini and Marin Cilic, withdrew after testing positive, without a requirement to take a test, they, and any other player, could have opted not to take a test and played through whatever symptoms they were experiencing.“So many rules,” Rafael Nadal said. “For some people some rules are fine; for the others rules are not fine. If there are some rules, we need to follow the rules. If not, the world is a mess.”After nearly two years of bubble life though, hard-edge complaints about a don’t-ask-don’t-tell approach and safety mandates were virtually nonexistent.Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia, whose country had some of the strictest pandemic-related policies, said she remained cautious, especially at the bigger events, but she had reached the point where she needed to find a balance between safety and sanity.“I just try to take care of myself as much as I can where I’m still not completely isolating myself, where it’s not fun to live,” said Tomljanovic, who lost to Rybakina in the quarterfinals.Paula Badosa, the Spanish star, said she has stopped worrying about the virus.“I had all type of Covids possible,” said Badosa, who first tested positive in Australia in January 2021 and has had it twice more. “I had vaccination, as well. So in my case, if I have it again, it will be very bad luck.”Officials with the men’s and women’s tours said regardless of infection levels, their organizations had no intention of resuming regular testing or restricting player movements. They said they will follow the lead of local officials.With testing, quarantine and isolation requirements having all but disappeared, or merely existing as recommendations, tennis finally seems to have entered stage of pandemic apathy, much like a lot of society, Omicron and its subvariants be damned.There is, of course, one major exception to all of this, and that is Djokovic, whose refusal to be vaccinated — unique among the top 100 players on the men’s tour — will seemingly prevent him from playing in the U.S. Open.U.S. rules require all foreigners entering the country to be vaccinated against Covid-19. Djokovic has said he believes that individuals should be allowed to choose whether to do so without pressure from governments.Also, because he was deported from Australia, Djokovic would need a special exemption to return to the country to compete in the Australian Open in January. He has won the men’s singles title there a record nine times.Unless the rules change, he may not play in another Grand Slam tournament until the French Open next May, something he said he was well aware of but would not shift his thinking about whether to take the vaccine.In other words, Covid really isn’t done playing games with tennis. More

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      Matteo Berrettini Withdraws From Wimbledon With Coronavirus

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      WIMBLEDON, England — Matteo Berrettini, a finalist at Wimbledon last year, withdrew from the tournament on Tuesday after testing positive for the coronavirus.Berrettini’s announcement of his withdrawal came only about two hours before he was to take the court for his first-round match against Cristian Garín and was the latest blow to a Grand Slam tournament that was already shorter than usual on stars and that had been stripped of ranking points for this edition by the men’s and women’s tennis tours.Berrettini, who is undefeated on grass courts this season and was seeded No. 8 at Wimbledon, was one of the leading contenders for the men’s singles title. His withdrawal came one day after another player, Marin Cilic, the No. 14 seed from Croatia and a 2017 Wimbledon finalist, also withdrew after testing positive.“I am heartbroken,” Berrettini wrote on his Instagram account, echoing Cilic’s announcement on Instagram on Monday.The dual withdrawal raised the prospect of an outbreak among the player group at Wimbledon, which is missing several stars because of injury and the tournament’s ban on Russian and Belarusian players.Berrettini and Cilic have been in contact in recent weeks with many players. Both played at the grass-court tournament in Queen’s Club in London that ended on June 19, with Berrettini winning the singles title and Cilic reaching the semifinals.Both practiced at Wimbledon last week and used the locker room reserved for seeded players. Berrettini trained on Centre Court on Thursday with Rafael Nadal, the No. 2 seed. Cilic trained on Centre Court with Novak Djokovic, the No. 1 seed.Djokovic, who has said that he remains unvaccinated for the coronavirus, won his first-round match on Monday, defeating Kwon Soon-woo of South Korea in four sets. Djokovic served particularly well but was far from his sharpest in other areas, looking wan and low on energy at one stage and dousing himself with water on a changeover. On Tuesday, Nadal played at Wimbledon for the first time since 2019, beating Francisco Cerundolo in four sets in the first round on Centre Court.Wimbledon was canceled in 2020 because of the pandemic and imposed strict restrictions last year, following British government guidelines. Coronavirus testing was required for players, support team members and tournament officials and employees. But with the loosening of government mandates this year, no testing is currently required at Wimbledon.In a statement, the All England Club said that its policy is “in keeping with agreed practice across all of the U.K.”The club said some health and safety measures were still in place. “We have maintained enhanced cleaning and hand sanitizing operations and offer full medical support for anyone feeling unwell,” the statement said.No masks are required at the tournament, and they are a rare sight on the grounds. But the player medical team is continuing to wear them for any consultations. The team of racket stringers on site is also wearing them. The club emphasized that Wimbledon’s health and safety policies were regularly under review and could be updated.Emma Raducanu signing autographs for fans. Masks are not required at the tournament this year.Adrian Dennis/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesBut the tournament clearly has a problem, which could get bigger.In all, five of the top 20 men were unable to play at Wimbledon because of bans, injuries or illness. No. 1 Daniil Medvedev of Russia was blocked from competing after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and Wimbledon’s decision to bar Russians and their allies from Belarus led to the tours retaliating by removing ranking points from the tournament.No. 2-ranked Alexander Zverev is out for an extended period after tearing ligaments in his right ankle at the French Open.There have also been early upsets. Hubert Hurkacz, the No. 7 seed and a strong contender, was beaten Monday in five sets in the first round by Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. Felix Auger-Aliassime, the No. 6 seed, was beaten Tuesday in four sets by Maxime Cressy.Berrettini, a strapping 6-foot-6 Italian, missed several months of action this season because of surgery on his right, primary playing hand. But he returned for the grass-court season this month and won consecutive titles in Stuttgart and at Queen’s Club.“I have had flu symptoms and been isolating the last few days,” Berrettini wrote on social media. “Despite symptoms not being severe, I decided it was important to take another test this morning to protect the health and safety of my fellow competitors and everyone else involved in the tournament.”Berrettini and Cilic, like many of the leading players, were staying in private accommodations in Wimbledon rather than in one of the player hotels in central London. That could reduce the risk of contamination, but there is also a new sense of resignation among the player community about the virus. Many have had the coronavirus, including Djokovic, Nadal and Coco Gauff.“I’m pretty sure I had Covid, so I’m less afraid than I used to be,” Maria Sakkari, who is seeded fifth in women’s singles, said after her first-round victory on Tuesday. “We have to get back to a normal life again.”Sakkari equated getting the coronavirus to getting food poisoning, which could also force withdrawal from a tournament. Alizé Cornet, a French player, said the virus had become a “part of the landscape.”“There always have been injuries and illnesses,” she told French reporters on Tuesday, claiming that there had been numerous undeclared coronavirus cases among players at the recent French Open. “In the locker room, everyone had it, and we didn’t say anything,” she said, suggesting that some players had symptoms but did not test themselves.“We’re not going to test ourselves and put ourselves in trouble,” she said. “I saw some women wearing masks because they did not want to spread it.”Gauff said she was comfortable with testing not being mandatory for players and said she was happy that the testing was no longer “every day or every other day.”“I don’t want to go back to that,” she said. “Not being scared to be tested, but it’s also, like, a hassle. I think with the vaccines and everything, we kind of know that the viral load is low and it’s very hard to transfer if you’re a vaccinated individual.”But she said she would test if she had symptoms and encouraged her peers to do the same.Berrettini had not been on site at the All England Club since Saturday and now, despite his thunderous serve and forehand, will have to wait until next year.“I have no words to describe the extreme disappointment I feel,” he said. “The dream is over for this year, but I will be back stronger.”Cilic, 33, has also been in resurgent form, overwhelming Medvedev in the fourth round of the French Open on his way to the semifinals. With his long reach, huge serve and flat baseline power, he is dangerous on grass and was, like Berrettini, one of the players to watch closely in the bottom half of the men’s draw.Cilic could have faced Nadal in the fourth round; Berrettini could have faced him in the semifinals. But now Nadal’s path looks quite a bit less daunting, if he remains healthy. More

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      Nadal and Medvedev Will Play in Australian Open Final

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      The Spaniard defeated Matteo Berrettini and will play for a record 21st career Grand Slam men’s singles title against Medvedev, who beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in four sets.MELBOURNE, Australia —Rafael Nadal moved within one match of a record-breaking 21st Grand Slam men’s singles title by defeating Matteo Berrettini of Italy, 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, in the semifinals of the Australian Open.The sixth-seeded Nadal will face the No. 2 seed Daniil Medvedev in Sunday’s final, the latest clash between the old guard and new wave in men’s tennis.Medvedev also won in four sets on Friday, defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, But Medvedev’s victory was considerably more tempestuous than Nadal’s. After losing his serve in the ninth game of the second set and receiving a code violation for a visible obscenity that he said was misinterpreted, Medvedev shouted angrily at chair umpire Jaume Campistol for most of the changeover, suggesting that Tsitsipas’s father was illegally coaching his son from the player box.“Are you stupid? His father can talk every point?” Medvedev said from his chair, screaming “Look at me!” at the Spanish official when Campistol turned his gaze back toward the court to try to defuse the situation.It was an extraordinary outburst, a flashback to combustible champions of the past like John McEnroe. Medvedev said after the match that he regretted the way he has sometimes treated chair umpires.“I regret it all the time, because I don’t think it’s nice,” he said. “I know that every referee is trying to do their best. But, yeah, when you are there, tennis, you know, we don’t fight with the fists, but tennis is a fight. It’s a one on one against another player. So I’m actually really respectful to players who never, almost never show their emotions because, I mean, it’s tough, it’s tough, because I get, I can get really emotional.”Medvedev said he could not be certain that Apostolos Tsitsipas was coaching his son. He said all he could hear was his commentary during the match in Greek, which Medvedev does not speak. But tournament officials soon stationed Greek umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore in a tunnel within earshot of the players’ box. When Tsitsipas eventually received a warning for coaching early in the fourth set, he did not win another game, and Medvedev accelerated to the finish.“Many times I lose the match because of this,” Medvedev said of his tantrum. “Lose concentration and too much energy, so as soon as I’ve done it, I was like that’s a big mistake.”Tsitsipas, who has said in the past that his relationship with Medvedev is frosty, smiled when asked about Friday’s outburst.“It’s for sure funny,” he said. “I don’t pay attention to this stuff. Players like to do this stuff to throw you off mentally. Could be maybe a tactic. It’s all right. He’s not the most mature person.”Daniil Medvedev will play Nadal in the men’s singles final.Dave Hunt/EPA, via ShutterstockTsitsipas, who has received several coaching violations in recent seasons, said he was not being coached on Friday even if he believes it should be allowed in men’s tennis. “I cannot hear anything when I’m playing and having the crowd be so loud every single point,” he said. He said that he had spoken with his father to try to stop him from talking during his matches. “My father, look, he’s a person that when he gets into something when there is a lot of action, his medicine is to talk, and you can’t stop it,” Tsitsipas said. “It’s something that he does from nature. I’ve talked to him about it. I’ve tried.”Medvedev, who could be fined for his comments to Campistol, said he has been working on himself, as well, after losing his temper regularly in his early years. He showed zen-master composure in his second-round defeat of Australian Nick Kyrgios last week with Kyrgios egging on the crowd, but Friday was a step back.“In the heat of the moment, I just lost it,” he conceded.Sunday’s duel with Nadal will be a rematch of the grueling 2019 U.S. Open final that Nadal won in five sets. Nadal, the 35-year-old Spanish star, is tied with his longtime rivals Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic for the men’s record.But neither Federer nor Djokovic played in this year’s tournament. Federer is still recovering from knee surgery and Djokovic, a nine-time Australian Open champion, was deported on the eve of the tournament after his visa was revoked by the Australian government and his appeal was rejected.Nadal, the only member of the Big Three in Melbourne, came through Djokovic’s half of the draw and has carried the torch surprisingly well after missing most of the second half of the 2021 season with a chronic foot problem. When he did return to action in late December for an exhibition in Abu Dhabi, he contracted the coronavirus and developed symptoms at home in Majorca, Spain before making the long trip to Australia.But he won a warm-up tournament at Melbourne Park before the main event and has now swept through six more matches to reach his sixth and most unexpected Australian Open final. He was in tears on court after the victory and said he had discussed the possibility of retirement with his family last year.“This is a success that is particularly emotional,” Nadal said. “It means so much to me, perhaps because it’s so unexpected.”He has won this title just once, beating Federer for the title in 2009. Since then, he has experienced plenty of tennis heartache in Rod Laver Arena: losing a 2012 final to Djokovic that went 5 hours 53 minutes, and another marathon to Federer in 2017 despite holding a 3-1 lead in the fifth set.Now, he has a chance to set himself apart.“For me it’s all about the Australian Open more than anything else,” he said when asked about the prospect of winning No. 21. “I was lucky to win in 2009 but never thought about another chance in 2022.”Nadal now has a 2-0 record against Berrettini, the strapping 25-year-old Italian who has a big serve and heavy forehand and plenty of charisma, but also has a comparatively weak backhand that Nadal exploited repeatedly.Medvedev argued with the chair umpire, believing that Tsitsipas’s father was illegally coaching his son from the player box.Dave Hunt/EPA, via ShutterstockBerrettini had no break points on Nadal’s serve until the eighth game of the third set, but with Nadal serving at 3-4, Berrettini sprinted to his right and hit a forehand passing shot winner down the line that appeared to surprise both men. Nadal was soon serving at 0-40 and two points later, Berrettini was able to break him for the first time, slapping a forehand winner.He then served out third set, baring his teeth to his support team as he strutted past Nadal to his chair before the fourth set.“He’s a very solid player, very dangerous,” Nadal said. “And in the third, I knew at some point he is going to go for the shots. I didn’t play a good game with my serve at 3-4, but he played some great shots. The passing shot down the line was unbelievable.”But the patterns of play were still in Nadal’s favor as he continued to focus his attacks on Berrettini’s backhand. The Italian did hit a two-handed winner to get to 15-30 on Nadal’s serve in the opening game of the fourth set, but Nadal won a cat-and-mouse exchange on the next point as Berrettini missed a backhand slice off a good drop shot.Nadal will play in his sixth Australian Open men’s singles final.Dean Lewins/EPA, via ShutterstockThough Berrettini kept hustling and ripping through his forehands, he could not sustain his comeback, losing his serve in the eighth game of what turned out to be the final set.“We need to suffer, and we need to fight,” Nadal said, summing up his philosophy over his nearly 20-year career. “That’s the only way I am where I am today.”Both Federer and Djokovic have taken aim at No. 21 in a Grand Slam final and missed. Federer had two match points on his serve against Djokovic in the 2019 Wimbledon final and failed to convert. Djokovic faced Medvedev in last year’s U.S. Open final and lost in straight sets.Now it is Nadal’s turn, even as he continues to say that finishing ahead of Federer and Nadal in the Grand Slam chase is not his obsession or priority.“Being very honest, for me is much more important to have the chance to play tennis than win the 21, no?” he said.But a second Australian Open title would certainly be most welcome. He is the fifth oldest man to reach the singles final here in the Open era and like Federer, who was 35 when he won in 2017, Nadal is coming back from an injury layoff and playing with freedom and lower expectations than usual.He had the staying power and desire to hold off Denis Shapovalov in a five-set quarterfinal in the heat. After two days to recuperate, he had the skill set and precision to hold off Berrettini under a closed roof on Friday with the rain pelting down on Melbourne during the match. More

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      Australian Open Final Four: It's Nadal vs. Berrettini and Medvedev vs. Tsitsipas

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      The men’s singles semifinals will feature No. 6 Rafael Nadal against No. 7 Matteo Berrettini, and No. 2 Daniil Medvedev against No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas.MELBOURNE, Australia — None of the men’s singles semifinalists at the Australian Open has made it this far unscathed.All have been pushed to five sets in the heat at Melbourne Park this year.Rafael Nadal, making his latest comeback, dropped more than 10 pounds and had to battle through nausea and dizziness during his toasty, testy victory over Denis Shapovalov of Canada on Tuesday in Rod Laver Arena. Daniil Medvedev of Russia had to save a match point in the same stadium on Wednesday before prevailing against Shapovalov’s countryman, Felix Auger-Aliassime, in an after-midnight thriller.Matteo Berrettini has been stretched to the limit twice: by the Spanish teenager Carlos Alcaraz and the French veteran Gael Monfils. Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece had to rally to wriggle free of the American Taylor Fritz.But after Medvedev’s entertaining escape from a two-set deficit in the quarterfinal, the final four is set, and it is a lineup with genuine star power if, for now, only one true tennis great.That is Nadal, 35, who is in close range of surpassing his longtime measuring sticks, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, with a 21st Grand Slam tournament singles title but, as usual, is talking down the destination and favoring the journey.The sixth-seeded Rafael Nadal in his five-set victory over Denis Shapovalov in the men’s quarterfinals.Alana Holmberg for The New York Times“I am super satisfied and feel a very lucky person in general for all the things that happen to me in this life, no?” Nadal said, looking drawn but fulfilled after battling past Shapovalov. “You can’t always be frustrated if the neighbor has a bigger house than you or a better phone or a better thing, no? I’m not going to be frustrated if Novak or Roger finishes the career with more Grand Slams than me.”Nadal, it should be said, has a lot of nice things, including a million-dollar watch and an 80-foot yacht named “Great White,” but he clearly still craves more time on the court. Why else would he spend months rehabilitating again from the chronic foot condition that first threatened his career in his early 20s? Why else would he make the trip to Melbourne despite falling ill with the coronavirus in late December?The love of the game remains, and he could get plenty more court time (and challenges) in his semifinal duel with Berrettini, the strapping 6-foot-6 Italian whose topspin forehand is nearly as heavy as Nadal’s.They have played just once. Nadal won in straight sets in the semifinals of the 2019 U.S. Open, the last Grand Slam tournament Nadal won on a hardcourt. But Berrettini, 25, is now an established threat in majors after reaching last year’s Wimbledon final.“I watch him so many times in this tournament and other tournaments, cheering for him,” Berrettini said of Nadal. “Playing him in Rod Laver in the semifinals is something that I dreamed about when I was a kid.”Matteo Berrettini in his match against Carlos Alcaraz.Alana Holmberg for The New York TimesBut the dream now is not to play him but to beat him.“I know I can do it,” Berrettini said at a late-night news conference this week. “It’s gonna be a really tough one, but I’m in the semis in a Slam for the third time, like you guys said, so it means that this is my level, and I want to get further.”Berrettini is the first Italian man to reach a singles semifinal at the Australian Open and will remain the only one until at least next year. Jannik Sinner, his redheaded, 20-year-old compatriot, was no match for Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals on Thursday.Tsitsipas, a 23-year-old right-hander coming back from minor elbow surgery in the off-season on his playing arm, seemed under par in the early rounds as he mistimed his groundstrokes. But he clicked into a higher gear against Sinner: dominating with his versatile and powerful forehand, one of the best shots in the game. He converted all four of his break points, did not face a break point on his own serve and adjusted beautifully to Sinner’s big-bang baseline pace to win, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.Afterward, he thanked his surgeon in Switzerland.“He’s been sending texts to me after every single match,” Tsitsipas said. “We didn’t think I’d be playing in the Australian Open.”Playing like that again in the closing rounds would likely win him the Australian Open, where he emerged in earnest in 2019 by upsetting Federer, whose smooth athleticism, all-court game and one-handed backhand have influenced Tsitsipas’s similar game.But to reach the final Tsitsipas must complete what looks like the toughest mission left in Melbourne. He must defeat Medvedev, the gangly, 25-year-old Russian with an unorthodox style, who is closing in on Djokovic’s No. 1 ranking after defeating him in the 2021 U.S. Open final.Stefanos Tsitsipas celebrated defeating Jannik Sinner in their quarterfinal match.Dean Lewins/EPA, via ShutterstockMedvedev and Tsitsipas — ranked No. 2 and No. 4 respectively — both leaders of the new wave, have had a chilly relationship on tour and acknowledged it. But they warmed to each other when they played the Laver Cup for Team Europe in Boston last year.“It kind of got better after Laver Cup,” Tsitsipas said. “We haven’t really spoken in the last couple of months, but our relationship is competitors on the court and kind of fighting for the same dream.”Medvedev leads their head-to-head series 6-2 and is 4-0 against Tsitsipas on outdoor hardcourts, the surface at the Australian Open. But Medvedev, who lost to Djokovic in the final at Melbourne Park last year, came within one point of elimination on Wednesday against the dynamic and inspired Auger-Aliassime.Medvedev had beaten him in all three of their previous matches while losing just one set. But he lost the first two sets in the quarterfinal as he proved less reliable than usual during their extended, often spectacular baseline rallies and struggled to read and return Auger-Aliassime’s big serves.They were quite a contrast. Medvedev played his service games at breakneck pace, often taking less than 10 seconds between points. Auger-Aliassime was measured on his service games, usually using the full 25 seconds. His technique is classic, with smooth strokes and follow-throughs. Medvedev’s is 100-percent artisanal, with his long limbs flying in all sorts of seemingly suboptimal directions but his ball-striking so clean and devastating.He is full of big-point confidence after winning his first major in New York, and he needed it on Wednesday when he faced match point on his serve at 4-5, 30-40 in the fourth set after a double fault.He saved it by ripping a first serve wide that Auger-Aliassime could not handle and then carried the momentum to victory.Russia’s Daniil Medvedev saved a match point in the fourth set before winning his quarterfinal match against Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime.Loren Elliott/ReutersHe was lucky, too, getting a boost earlier in the match when play was stopped to close the retractable roof in Laver Arena because of rain during the third-set tiebreaker. The conditions were considerably cooler with the roof closed, and, Medvedev acknowledged, more to his liking.But indoors or outdoors, it was a taut thriller of a match, one that the ninth-seeded Auger-Aliassime came so close to winning.“I think he was just a little bit more clutch than me, a little bit more solid at times,” said Auger-Aliassime, who was broken in the third game of the fifth set and failed to convert any of his six break points in that set.Medvedev seemed unleashed down the stretch: brimming with energy and feeding off the crowd. When his comeback was complete, he was asked on court by the commentator Jim Courier how he had turned the match around.“I didn’t really know what to do,” he answered. “So I don’t know if people will like it but I told myself, ‘What would Novak do?’”There was a chorus of boos from the largely Australian crowd at the mention of Djokovic, the unvaccinated Serbian star who was deported from the country on the eve of the tournament after his visa was revoked and his appeal denied.Medvedev is not usually affected by crowd disapproval — see the 2019 U.S. Open — but he took diplomatic cover this time: quickly mentioning “Rafa” and “Roger” as potential influences, too, and getting a cheer for his efforts.But Djokovic, popular or not, is the champion Medvedev has been channeling in Melbourne.“During all the matches, as soon as I was down a little bit, I was like, ‘Just be like Novak. Show him that you are better,’” he said referring to his opposition.So far, that has been just good enough for Medvedev, the highest men’s seed in the tournament. Djokovic, a nine-time Australian Open champion, would have been seeded No. 1. Though his absence has affected the competitive balance, it has not kept this tournament from providing plenty of entertainment and a worthy final four. More

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      ATP Finals Create a Buzz in Turin, but Will Italy’s Players Follow?

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      Turin is a smaller stage than the prestigious event had in London, but the enthusiasm was real, especially for the young Italian stars Jannik Sinner and Matteo Berrettini.TURIN, Italy — There is a massive world map in the atrium of the five-star hotel in Turin where the leading players stayed during the ATP Finals that ended Sunday.It was not the ideal metaphor. Though men’s tennis is undoubtedly global, with tournaments on six continents (no Antarctica for now), it is not at the moment an intercontinental sport at the top.As the 2021 tour season ends, the top 10 in singles is exclusively European: from 34-year-old Novak Djokovic of Serbia at No. 1 to 20-year-old Jannik Sinner of Italy at No. 10.Though there were some men’s tour executives who believed that it would have been a smarter growth strategy and safer financial decision to take the ATP Finals elsewhere — see Tokyo or Singapore — it is certainly in tune with the times that the tour’s year-end championship remained in Europe.The surprise was that it came to Turin. The ATP Finals were in London at the O2 Arena from 2009 to 2020, serving as an annual second helping of big-time tennis for a major city and major media hub that already had Wimbledon.But Turin, the new host for a five-year run, is a very different and more risky play. Though Turin is the capital of Italy’s Piedmont region, it is only the country’s fourth most populous city behind Rome, Milan and Naples. It has a tennis culture — clubs and courts are common — but does not have a regular men’s or women’s tour event and has never produced a major tennis star, although Lorenzo Sonego, 26, a Turin native currently ranked 27th, is training and playing hard to change that (he has victories over Djokovic and the 2020 U.S. Open champion Dominic Thiem).A mascot posed at the ATP Finals fan village.Alessandro Di Marco/EPA, via ShutterstockFiat, the carmaker that once dominated the city, has moved on, leaving an economic void. Turin has its strengths: fine wine and food, an Egyptian museum, an elegant city center and the soccer club Juventus. But what gave it the edge for indoor tennis was the Pala Alpitour, the largest, most up-to-date indoor arena in Italy. It was built to host ice hockey at the Winter Olympics in 2006, and Turin’s leaders were eager to rekindle the Olympic spirit and raise the city’s international profile with another significant sports event.That may be more challenging than they think. The ATP Finals is arguably the most prestigious annual men’s tennis event outside the four Grand Slam tournaments. Only the top eight men qualify in singles, and it is a goal and talking point throughout the season as well as one of the biggest paydays and ranking boosts available. An undefeated champion gets 1,500 ranking points: more than any tournament outside the Grand Slam events, whose champions get 2,000.But the ATP Finals are still nowhere near as big a fishbowl. Winning is important for a champion’s legacy but not essential. Rafael Nadal has never managed it, yet no one is about to take him off the short list of the game’s greatest players.Three of the past five ATP Finals champions — Grigor Dimitrov, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev, who won in 2018 and again on Sunday — have yet to win a Grand Slam title.But with Nadal, Thiem and Roger Federer out of action for extended periods as they recover from significant injuries, Turin got the best of what was available. No. 1 Djokovic, No. 2 Daniil Medvedev and No. 3 Zverev all reached the semifinals after coming through their round-robin groups, and all expressed satisfaction with their new playground even if Medvedev did grumpily and briefly compare it to a minor-league “challenger” event during his opening match when he had trouble getting the balls delivered to him at the pace he prefers before serving.There were certainly more significant issues, some beyond organizers’ control. The coronavirus pandemic made advance planning a challenge. Prize money was cut in half — from $14.5 million to $7.25 million — largely because of the reduced arena capacity. Though Turin had been projecting a 75 percent limit, the Italian authorities ultimately settled on 60 percent, which turned away hundreds of fans on short notice. Once inside, there were long lines and a shortage of concessions (the sponsors seemed to be doing just fine).But the enthusiasm was real and audible, even with just over 7,600 fans in the stands. It was real in Turin’s historic center as well, where shopkeepers put tennis rackets in their showcases and windows and the city turned Piazza San Carlo into a tennis village with big video screens and a small-scale court.Sinner signed autographs for fans in front of the Principi di Piemonte hotel in Turin.Jessica Pasqualon/EPA, via ShutterstockIs it better to take an event like the ATP Finals to a world city where it will be at most a sideshow or to bring it to a more modest place like Turin where it can and likely will dominate?Option No. 2 has its charms.“The Turin idea was that the city would really embrace the event, and we would have done even more if there had not been Covid,” said Andrea Gaudenzi, the chairman of the ATP Tour. “Overall, I think we have to improve a few things, especially in the fan experience outside the arena when you come without the corporate ticket. But overall, I’m personally pleased with the on-court experience.”The potential downside is that you create waves in a small pond instead of ripples in vaster uncharted waters that might help grow the game long term. With the Big Three nearing the end of their careers, men’s tennis is surely in for a lull.But after all the empty stadiums of the pandemic, buzz is an even larger virtue, and Italy is abuzz over tennis and rightly so. When Turin and the Italian Tennis Federation began lobbying for the ATP Finals in 2018, Sinner and Matteo Berrettini had not yet broken through (and Gaudenzi, a former Italian star, had not yet become chairman of the ATP).As it turned out, Berrettini, 25, a Wimbledon finalist this year, qualified directly for Turin and when he had to withdraw after one match with an abdominal injury, Sinner was ready to step in as the alternate. The atmosphere when he played was the best of the week.“We never could have imagined that two Italian players would take part in the first ATP Finals in Turin,” said Angelo Binaghi, president of the Italian Tennis Federation.That is quite a bonus, and in light of Sinner’s and Berrettini’s youth and talent, it may not be a one-time bonus. More

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      At U.S. Open, Novak Djokovic Moves One Step Closer to Grand Slam

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      After dropping the first set, the world No. 1 smoothly beat sixth-seeded Matteo Berrettini, 5-7, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3, to advance to the semifinals against Alexander Zverev.The U.S. Open has waited 52 years for a man to have a chance at winning the Grand Slam, so what’s a few extra hours?Top-ranked Novak Djokovic, undefeated in best-of-five matches this year as he pursues the Grand Slam, again lingered in long form play on Wednesday night in Arthur Ashe Stadium before rerouting to a romp of the sixth-seeded Matteo Berrettini, 5-7, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3.Djokovic’s first set against Berrettini was the third straight time he had lost the opening frame, and also his most taxing set of the tournament. The first game lasted for 14 points; the sixth game needed 20 points. Though Djokovic was broken in the 11th game on a forehand passing shot winner by Berrettini and lost the set soon after, it was Berrettini who needed to leave the court to change out of his sweat-soaked attire just an hour and 17 minutes into the match.Djokovic’s detours at this tournament have not led to despondency, but discovery.The first set against Berrettini was the fourth set Djokovic has lost this tournament. As he did each time before, Djokovic took the information he gleaned and reprogrammed his game with increased precision. After hitting 17 unforced errors in the first set, he hit only three in the second and three in the third. Djokovic had five unforced errors in the fourth set.Through force of will and persistence, he turned the match in his favor, and even won over some of the begrudging crowd. When he held for 5-2 in the third, after saving a Berrettini break point and extinguishing any hope for a comeback, Djokovic held his hand to his ear, imploring the crowd to recognize his indomitability as he moves closer to the Grand Slam, and a record 21st career major singles title.After he got up a break early in the fourth set, Djokovic seemed to shift to a lower gear to coast to the finish, winning only two more points on return to conserve energy. When he wrapped up the victory after three hours and 27 minutes, Djokovic walked briskly to the net, wasting little energy on an elaborate celebration. He took several seconds to find the wristwatch he dons for the on-court interview to fulfill sponsor obligations.“I was locked in, really, from the beginning of the second set,” Djokovic said in his on-court interview. “I took my tennis to a different level. This has been the best three sets I’ve played so far in the tournament, for sure.”Djokovic has won the first 26 of the 28 matches he needs to complete the Grand Slam, but his 27th test may prove to be one of his toughest. On Friday night, Djokovic will face fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev, whose 16-match win streak includes a win over Djokovic in the semifinals of last month’s Tokyo Olympics.Zverev needed only two hours and six minutes to complete his own quarterfinal victory hours earlier, avoiding delay by saving a set point in the tiebreak of his 7-6(6), 6-3, 6-4 win over Lloyd Harris.Where Djokovic has been effective, Zverev has been efficient. Zverev has needed only nine hours and 23 minutes to complete his five wins here; Djokovic has needed 13 hours and 52 minutes.In his news conference on Wednesday, Zverev showed confidence but recognized the task ahead of him.“Against him you prepare that you have to play the best match that you can,” Zverev said of facing Djokovic. “You have to be perfect, otherwise you will not win.“Most of the time you can’t be perfect,” Zverev added. “That’s why most of the time people lose to him.” More

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      Novak Djokovic Wins Wimbledon

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      The world’s best player defeated Matteo Berrettini 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-4, 6-3, tying him with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, and putting him one victory closer to a Golden Slam.Novak Djokovic won the Wimbledon men’s singles championship on Sunday, defeating Matteo Berrettini of Italy. More