Berrettini Marches On To Reach US Open QF
Sixth seed Matteo Berrettini was made to work hard Monday at the US Open as he battled past qualifier Oscar Otte 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals in New York for a second time.
The Italian, who reached his first major final at Wimbledon, survived a major scare in his five-set third-round victory over Winston-Salem champion Ilya Ivashka.
The 25-year-old was tested again against Otte, surviving a dip in the second set, before raising his intensity to advance after two hours and 22 minutes. The German struggled with a wrist injury throughout the fourth set after falling at 1-1 in the set, but continued valiantly.
“It was an intriguing match, as I expected. Different court, tricky player. I wasn't feeling really good at the beginning," Berrettini said. "I had to adjust to the conditions and it was a match that I knew I could win and it's never easy when it's like that.
"I felt the pressure a little bit but I handled it pretty well. He was playing well and also the right way to not let me play my best tennis. Oscar had a great run and I told him that he didn't deserve [to go out with an injury], but that's tennis. It happened to me in Australia this year. It's never easy but he can take a lot of good from this tournament."
The World No. 8 has fond memories at Flushing Meadows, having enjoyed a run to his first major semi-final at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in 2019. The five-time tour-level champion will aim to match that by overcoming World No. 1 Novak Djokovic or #NextGenATP American Jenson Brooksby in the quarter-finals.
Berrettini now leads Otte 2-0 in their ATP Head2Head Series and further strengthened his claim to a spot at the Nitto ATP Finals on home soil in Turin in November with his victory. The Italian has captured titles on clay in Belgrade and grass at The Queen’s Club this year, while he reached his maiden ATP Masters 1000 final in Madrid.
From the start, both players hit with great power as they aimed to get the decisive strike in the rallies to manoeuvre each other around the court. Despite Otte matching the Italian for the first seven games, Berrettini began to find his range on his forehand to dictate. The 25-year-old dropped just one point on his first serve (14/15) in the first set to lead.
Great respect from both guys.@MattBerrettini ???? @OscarOtte #USOpen pic.twitter.com/UWmoHQrd28
— ATP Tour (@atptour) September 6, 2021
However, Berrettini suffered a blip in the second set as he struggled to find the court on his backhand side as Otte raced into a 3-0 lead. The German imposed his big-hitting game on the Italian, while also playing consistently, committing just four unforced errors in the set to level.
This setback seemed to spark the World No. 8 into action as he raised his game in the third set, stepping inside the baseline to hammer the ball as his footwork improved to move ahead. Otte then suffered a nasty fall at 1-1 15/15 in the fourth set, injuring his wrist in the process. Despite continuing, he was unable to strike the ball with power on his forehand as Berrettini secured his victory.
Otte, currently No. 144 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, was the lowest-ranked men’s player in the fourth round of the US Open since World No. 179 Jiri Novak in 2006. The 28-year-old was aiming to join Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp as the first pair of men’s qualifiers to reach the last eight at a major in the Open Era."All I have to say right now is that the end wasn't how I wanted it to end, of course. But all in all I can say was a very good two weeks," Otte said. "I just go back home tomorrow and then try to get more clearance with the doctors and MRI. But all in all I would say still a very good tournament."