“I need a couple of hours to understand what happened”

Matteo Berrettini defeated Hubert Hurkacz in the Wimbledon semifinal on Friday to reach his maiden Grand Slam final. With the victory, Berrettini has become the first Italian player in history to make it to the championship match at SW19.

The 25-year-old, who also reached the quarterfinals at Roland Garros a few weeks ago, dominated with his serve and forehand early on Friday to go up two sets to love. Hurkacz was able to regroup and steal a third set tie-breaker, but Berrettini soon made amends by breaking in the first game of the fourth set.

During the on-court interview after his 6-3, 6-0, 6-7, 6-4 win, the Italian initially looked overwhelmed by the magnitude of his feat. But he was eventually able to catch his breath, at which point he thanked his camp.

“I have no words, really. I need a couple of hours to understand what happened,” Berrettini said. “I played a great match. My family is there, my team. I never dreamt about this because it was too much.”

Berrettini added that he was in the zone for the entirety of the contest, even though he dropped the third set.

“When you play at this level, you try to be at your best at everything – mental, physical, tennis,” the Italian said. “I felt that I deserved to win the third set, I lost it and said to myself, ‘It doesn’t matter’. I was feeling the better player and that was what I told to myself. It worked.”

“I remember the first time I stepped on this court, playing Roger Federer here 2 years ago” – Matteo Berrettini