‘Congrats!’ Slam legend toasts Matteo Berrettini’s record-setting Australian Open
Two-time Australian Open champion Chris Evert has congratulated Matteo Berrettini on becoming the first Italian man to reach the quarter-finals of all four Slam events after he defeated Pablo Carreno Busta in Melbourne.
The fourth round was Berrettini’s previous best result at the Australian Open, coming in 2021 when he was unfortunately forced to withdraw due to injury before playing out that last 16 tie where he would have face Stefanos Tsitsipas.
“It was really tough last year, I really wanted to play but my team forced me in a way and then I understood that I couldn’t play with a tear in my abs,” the world number seven explained in his on-court interview after defeating Carreno Busta.
Berrettini won in three tight sets to line up a battle with crowd-pleasing Frenchman Gael Monfils for a place in the semi-finals.
The 25-year-old Italian achieved his first run to the quarter-finals of a Major at the 2019 US Open, going on to the semi-finals before losing to eventual champion Rafael Nadal.
After a lacklustre 2020, he then reached at least the fourth round at every Slam in 2021, including playing his maiden Slam final at Wimbledon against Novak Djokovic.
Evert retweeted the achievement of the ATP pro and urged him to “continue setting records.”
Congrats @MattBerrettini continue setting records! 👏👏👏 https://t.co/16C5Iliu63
— Chris Evert (@ChrissieEvert) January 23, 2022
Not only has Berrettini made Italian tennis history with his run Down Under, but will also likely secure some personal history by attaining a new career-high ranking come the end of the event.
Unless he loses to Monfils in the quarter-finals and then either Felix Auger-Aliassime reaches the final, or if Auger-Aliassime or Jannik Sinner, another Italian, wins the tournament, then Berrettini will reach a new best ranking of world number six.
Berrettini could be ranked as high as fifth in the world after the Australian Open if he wins the title.
The 20-year-old has now reached the last eight at Roland Garros and the Australian Open, and the fourth round at the US Open last year, but will need to improve on his first round Wimbledon appearance from the summer.
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