"It's been a minute": Matteo Berrettini wins Phoenix opener in first match since US Open

In Matteo Berrettini’s own words, “it’s been a minute.”

On Tuesday, the 2021 Wimbledon finalist made his first appearance since the US Open.

Competing at the Phoenix Challenger, Berrettini started slowly before surging past Hugo Gaston, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1. The 27-year-old fired 10 aces and broke his French opponent five times from 13 opportunities to secure the win.

In his on-court interview afterwards, Berrettini was naturally thrilled to be back in the competition arena.

“I’m just so happy. It’s been 10 years! It was so long. It’s been almost seven months since my last match,” he said with a grin.

The former world No. 6 finds himself at the 175-level challenger event for the second year running, albeit for different reasons. A year ago, he fell in his opener at Indian Wells as a seeded competitor and was in need of match reps after admittedly struggling with his confidence.

This time around, he’s on the comeback trail from injury—a narrative Berrettini has unfortunately grown accustomed to. It was in New York last August when Berrettini ruptured a ligament in his right ankle during his second-round encounter with Arthur Rinderknech. That injury followed an abdominal issue that sidelined him from all but one event of the 2023 European clay-court season.

Berrettini was slated to compete at January’s Australian Open, before withdrawing with a right foot injury. His ranking has since slipped to No. 154.

Next week, the Rome native is expected to play the Masters 1000 event in Miami. Berrettini entered with a protected ranking of No. 74.

In Phoenix, Chris Eubanks is the top seed and Sebastian Ofner is seeded second.