It’s Novak Djokovic vs. Matteo Berrettini in Wimbledon Final

Berrettini is the first Italian, man or woman, to reach a Wimbledon singles final.

“I think I never dreamed about this, because it was too much for a dream,” Berrettini said.

He was surely talking about his childhood, not his more recent past, because this run to the final could not have come as a complete shock in light of his results lately.

Last month, he reached the quarterfinals of the French Open, pushing Djokovic, the eventual champion, hard in a tense four-set match. Berrettini then won the grass court warm-up event at Queen’s Club that has often been a harbinger of success at Wimbledon.

At 6-foot-5, he has a powerful serve and one of the heaviest forehands in a sport that is full of heavy forehands. But as he demonstrated against Hurkacz, he has improved his mobility and backhand, both his blocked, two-handed service return and his one-handed slice.

Hurkacz, an aggressive player with a game well-suited to grass, had upset the No. 2 seed, Daniil Medvedev, in the fourth round and Federer in the quarterfinals, winning the final set 6-0 against the eight-time Wimbledon champion.

Berrettini won the second set by the same score on Friday, and though Hurkacz did lift his game and push the semifinal into a fourth set, he could never find a way to break Berrettini’s serve.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/09/sports/tennis/wimbledon-mens-semifinal.html