Quote of the Day: “Maybe I’m gonna play qualies,” thought a young Matteo Berrettini

With his 7-5, 7-6 (4), 6-4 fourth-round victory over Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta, Matteo Berrettini not only reached his first Australian Open quarterfinal, but he made history.

Berrettini is now the first Italian man in tennis history to reach the quarterfinals or better at each of the four Grand Slams, having already done it once at Roland Garros (2021), once at Wimbledon (2021) and twice at the US Open (2019, 2021).

He was already the only Italian man in tennis history to even reach the round of 16 or better at each of the four Grand Slams.

But when asked about the achievement in his post-match press conference on Sunday night, the 25-year-old revealed that his goals as a junior were much humbler.

“It makes me feel good. I didn’t know about this. You guys told me after my match, so makes me feel really good,” Berrettini said.

“It means that I’m doing great stuff, which I never believed I could do when I was younger. I always remember being here, playing the juniors, and thinking maybe I’m gonna play qualies. I don’t know. So it’s a good feeling.”

Berrettini is only the 10th active male player to complete a Grand Slam quarterfinal set (after Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Stan Wawrnka, Juan Martin del Potro, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Marin Cilic and Kei Nishikori).