Berrettini reveals the crisis: "I have dismantled everything"

Q: Who did Berrettini face in the first round at Wimbledon?

He was initially supposed to play against Grigor Dimitrov, but the Bulgarian withdrew. Berrettini then defeated Arthur Fils, his replacement on center court.

Q: Why did Berrettini stop playing for a month?

The tennis player revealed that he no longer feels emotions and does not smile. He decided not to touch the racket for a month to dismantle and rebuild his mental foundations.

Q: What was the key moment for Berrettini's return?

Training with Jannik Sinner was fundamental. The meeting rekindled the motivational spark that had been missing for some time, pushing him to return to competing.

Matteo Berrettini conquered the Center Court of Wimbledon by prevailing over Arthur Fils, but the real triumph takes place well beyond the features of the court. The Roman tennis player shed harsh and necessary light on a dark year, marked by profound apathy and a loss of motivation that risked compromising his career. The victory against the Frenchman, who replaced an injured Grigor Dimitrov, becomes the symbol of a rebirth that is first and foremost psychological. The match numbers matter less than the following revelations: Berrettini revealed that he had experienced a period of total blackout. For an entire month he deliberately avoided picking up the racket, a drastic choice for a professional accustomed to iron discipline, but necessary to reset a nervous system worn out by performance anxiety. The turning point did not come by magic, but through a physical and mental confrontation with Jannik Sinner during training. That session was the catalyst that rekindled a spark that seemed extinguished forever, allowing him to smile genuinely again. "Last year I didn't smile so much," Berrettini admitted with a frankness that cuts through all sporting rhetoric. His words paint the picture of an athlete who had to dismantle his mental foundations, piece by piece, in order to re-establish them on more solid foundations. It was not a simple technical adjustment of the forehand or the serve, but a deep digging work to rediscover the pure emotion of playing, a vital element that had progressively disappeared during the disastrous previous season. The context makes this confession a necessary cold shower for modern tennis. Berrettini is not a simple survivor of the scoreboard, but a former finalist who has seen his ranking plummet in twelve months. The asphyxiation of expectations, added to a body that betrayed its power several times, had created a mental prison where joy could not enter. Returning to express his powerful tennis on the London grass without the weight of performance anxiety suggests that the reset was not just a pause, but a radical restructuring of the approach to competitive life. The grass of Wimbledon is a ground that forgives those who have the courage to attack, but condemns those who hesitate. The fact that Berrettini managed to impose his pace against Fils shows that the "reset" was not just philosophical. When the mind is free from the noise of anxiety, the serve—its primary weapon—becomes an accurate missile again instead of a desperate attempt to survive the point. The London surface, which has already seen the Roman tennis player triumph in the past, acts as an amplifier: if the head is in order, the game follows naturally without mechanical forcing. Jannik Sinner's role in this reconstruction is not marginal, but central. Training with the world number one not only offers a technical yardstick, but imposes a necessary severity. For an athlete accustomed to dominating, finding himself as a sparring partner to the new king of global tennis can be humbling or thrilling. For Berrettini it was the last slap needed to wake up. This dynamism within the Italian tennis movement, where the fall of one coincides with the rise of the other, adds a subtle drama to his return: he is not just playing against an opponent, but against time and a sporting hierarchy that has rewritten itself in his absence. Reading between the lines of the victory against Fils offers technical confirmations of this renewal. Facing a raw and fast talent like the Frenchman requires a mental concentration that Berrettini seemed to have lost in the previous months. The ability to absorb pressure and respond with its characteristic serve indicates that the mind has finally returned to piloting the body, rather than being an obstacle. It is not an instant miracle, but the tangible result of having accepted one's vulnerability to transform it into a competitive strength. This success at Wimbledon does not represent a simple point of arrival in the scoreboard, but the tangible confirmation that the path of reconstruction undertaken is the correct one. The real challenge for Berrettini now is not to win the next match, but to maintain this newfound mental solidity and renewed passion to return to competing consistently at the top of world tennis. He demonstrated that when the body fails and the mind falters, resilience becomes the only winning weapon.

Why this matters

Frequently asked

Source

More on Jannik Sinner

Jódar comes back against Carreño and advances at Wimbledon

Sinner in crisis at Wimbledon, the Spanish press attacks

Kate Middleton returns to Wimbledon for the first time since 2023

Sinner chooses Paul: the bold move for Brooksby

Editor's picks

Kyrgios swears at umpire on Wimbledon return

Fritz walks on, smashes Kypson to reach Wimbledon third round

Anisimova survives Wimbledon thriller; Swiatek, Eala cruise on

Djokovic Defends Serena Williams Amid Criticism

Up next

Lions Cut Leads to Bid for Arnold's House Arrest

Balogun Scores, Sees Red as USA Reach Last 16

Tottenham smash record for Fernandes in £237m summer fire sale

Woodburn: Mexico's True Home Field

Gallagher Backs England's Wonderwall Hymn

Froch: Itauma's Future at Stake Against Hrgovic

More news

Kyrgios swears at umpire on Wimbledon return

The Mental Architecture of a Świątek Bagel

Fritz walks on, smashes Kypson to reach Wimbledon third round

Anisimova survives Wimbledon thriller; Swiatek, Eala cruise on

More about Tennis

Sinner at Wimbledon 2026: draw and opponents

Kate Middleton returns to Wimbledon for the first time since 2023

Sonego: "I like being in the fight"

Wimbledon, Swiatek in the third round: Pliskova demolished in two sets

More on Jannik Sinner

Jódar comes back against Carreño and advances at Wimbledon

Sinner in crisis at Wimbledon, the Spanish press attacks

Kate Middleton returns to Wimbledon for the first time since 2023

Sinner chooses Paul: the bold move for Brooksby

Editor's picks

Kyrgios swears at umpire on Wimbledon return

Fritz walks on, smashes Kypson to reach Wimbledon third round

Anisimova survives Wimbledon thriller; Swiatek, Eala cruise on

Djokovic Defends Serena Williams Amid Criticism

More news

Kyrgios swears at umpire on Wimbledon return

The Mental Architecture of a Świątek Bagel

Fritz walks on, smashes Kypson to reach Wimbledon third round

Anisimova survives Wimbledon thriller; Swiatek, Eala cruise on

More about Tennis

Sinner at Wimbledon 2026: draw and opponents

Kate Middleton returns to Wimbledon for the first time since 2023

Sonego: "I like being in the fight"

Wimbledon, Swiatek in the third round: Pliskova demolished in two sets

Up next

Lions Cut Leads to Bid for Arnold's House Arrest

Balogun Scores, Sees Red as USA Reach Last 16

Tottenham smash record for Fernandes in £237m summer fire sale

Woodburn: Mexico's True Home Field

Gallagher Backs England's Wonderwall Hymn

Froch: Itauma's Future at Stake Against Hrgovic