Matteo Berrettini came through an almighty battle to topple Cameron Norrie at the Vienna Open, but he was more pleased with something other than picking up the win.
Berrettini picked up his second consecutive win for the first time since June as he came through a three-set battle with Norrie in Vienna.
The two men battled through two tight tie-breaks before the Italian was able to find a break to win the deciding set.
Berrettini will play a quarter-final clash with Alex de Minaur in Vienna, but he has revealed that the win is not the important thing to him.
What Matteo Berrettini said after beating Cameron Norrie in Vienna
Berrettini looked some way back to the kind of player he was when he reached the Wimbledon final back in 2021.
The Italian served impressively, and hit some monumental forehands in order to get the better of the British player.
After the match, Berrettini revealed what pleased him the most about earning his place in the Vienna Open quarter-final.
“So proud, so proud of the game that I played. The team effort, the support of my team and people. They helped me to get through these months, what I was missing the most was this kind of feeling,” said the star.
“Fighting like that, having chances. Losing, winning; sometimes it’s not the main thing, it’s living these moments,” he added.
“When I lost the second set I wasn’t upset because I know that I had a chance to play the third. That was the mentality and I think it helped me through the third set.”
Berrettini sits at World No. 61 in the live rankings after picking up the win against Norrie.
Matteo Berretini looks forward to the clash with Alex de Minaur
Berrettini will likely receive a similar challenge from de Minaur, whose tireless work ethic is similar to Norrie’s.
The Italian made a point of trying to celebrate this win before turning his attention toward the World No. 7.
“Obviously now it’s tough to think about the next match,” said the former top 10 player. “With Alex it’s going to be a great fight. He’s probably the most solid guy on the court. Running like hell. We played many times, we know each other, I’m sure it’s going to be a great match.”
Berrettini and de Minaur will play on October 24, with the order of play yet to be confirmed by the tournament.
