Matteo Berrettini has kept his love affair with London alive by pushing Team Europe back into the lead at the 2022 Laver Cup. 

Stepping in for Roger Federer after the Swiss great’s final farewell on day one, Berrettini edged out the young Canadian 7-6 (13-11), 4-6, 10-7 to put his team up 4-2 in the Laver Cup. 

A repeat of their day one match at last year’s event in Boston, the match followed a similar pattern with a tight tiebreak set before a second set forced a match tiebreak in which the Italian prevailed. 

The result means that Team World have still not led in a Laver Cup since day three of the 2019 edition when they were up 11-7 before Europe stormed back to win 13-11 for their third Laver Cup triumph. 

“Always great fights against Felix,” he said in his post-match interview. “He’s a hell of a player. I had to play my best tennis in the breaker in order to win. I’m really happy because I didn’t win just for me but for the team, it was really important.”

Blue reigns supreme.@MattBerrettini finds a way to secure two points for Team Europe.#LaverCup pic.twitter.com/4QIwCYP0J8

— Laver Cup (@LaverCup) September 24, 2022

Berrettini has a strong history of results in London, reaching the Wimbledon final last year and claiming back-to-back Queen’s titles in 2021 and this past summer. 

The 26-year-old was asked to explain why he feels such an affiliation for the city and the O2 Arena. 

“I don’t know, the support I guess,” Berrettini said. “I just fell in love with London the first time that I came here when I was 18. 

“I played the juniors at Wimbledon and since then it has a special place in my heart and every time I come here I give my best. 

“Great memories also in this arena, I qualified for my first [ATP] Finals in 2019 so I’m really happy to be here and thanks again for the support.”