Stuttgart – Italian Matteo Berrettini has celebrated a great comeback on the tennis tour.
Last year’s Wimbledon finalist beat Britain’s Andy Murray 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 in the final of the grass-court tournament in Stuttgart to celebrate his second title in Stuttgart since 2019. Berrettini converted his second match point after 2:40 hours. However, Murray was clearly struggling in the third set. The two-time Wimbledon champion complained of discomfort in his groin and abdominal muscles and was on the verge of retiring.
Berrettini bounces back with tournament win
In the semi-finals, Berrettini had won against Oscar Otte from Cologne. The 26-year-old crowned his comeback with the tournament victory. The world number ten had to take a break since mid-March due to an operation on his right hand.
“I wouldn’t have dreamed of this when I arrived here,” Berrettini said. “Of course it was a goal, but I never thought it would actually work out,” the Italian said.
Berrettini was initially the dominant player on Centre Court. He managed an early break, which he did not relinquish in the course of the first set. But Murray improved in the second set and somewhat surprisingly managed to equalise the set. But then the former world number one injured himself and was only able to continue playing in severe pain.
Nick Kyrgios once again made the headlines. The Australian denounced racist comments from the crowd after his semi-final exit against Murray. “One thing I will never tolerate is spectators calling athletes names and insulting them. It’s been happening to me personally for some time, from racist comments to outright disrespect,” the 27-year-old wrote on Instagram. “For years I blocked it out, but especially in Indian Wells and today in Stuttgart I noticed that people seem to think it’s normal.”
Kyrgios smashes his racket
Organisers said on Sunday no discriminatory statements from spectators would be accepted. “We have expressed our regret to Nick Kyrgios and his team about what happened and assured him that we do not accept this kind of behaviour. The incident is currently being investigated by the officials,” it said. The observance of sporting values such as fairness, tolerance and team spirit has top priority.
Kyrgios had smashed his racket towards the end of the first set and was penalised with a point deduction for it. At the beginning of the second set, Kyrgios also got into a fight with the crowd, insulted them and was penalised 0:2. After that, the match was on the verge of being abandoned because the Australian played the match listlessly to the end and was sent off by the crowd with whistles.
