It’s shaping up to be a huge summer for Italian sport and Matteo Berrettini is proud to play a part in his nation’s resurgence on the big stage.

In football, after missing out on World Cup qualification three years ago, the Azzurri are through to the semi-finals of the Euros by picking up a 13th consecutive win and extending their unbeaten run to 32 matches. They will take on Spain for a place in the final on Tuesday.

On Sunday night, Italy’s men’s basketball team secured their spot at the Olympic Games for the first time since 2004 with victory over Serbia in the qualifying tournament held in Belgrade.

Buoyed by his compatriots’ performances, Berrettini punched his ticket to the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the first time with a dominant 6-4, 6-3, 6-1 success over Belarus’ Ilya Ivashka on Monday to stretch his own winning streak to nine matches and remain undefeated on grass this season.

“I really like those two sports [football and basketball]. I think overall we're achieving great results, all the sports. I reposted a post from our president of the Olympic Committee; he said we have a record number of participants in the Olympic Games. It's something that makes me proud because I'm one of them. It's really a great moment for sport in Italy,” said the 25-year-old.

Berrettini came into the Championships on the heels of a title triumph at Queen's, where he lifted the first ATP 500 trophy of his career. He has scooped 22 of the 24 sets he played during his nine-match winning streak and is through to the quarter-finals for a second consecutive Grand Slam.

The world No.9 enjoyed his first Grand Slam breakthrough when he reached the fourth round at Wimbledon two years ago. He recorded his best result at a major to date a few weeks later when he made the US Open semi-finals and he has now made the fourth round or better at six of his last eight Grand Slams.

He is displaying a great deal of comfort and ease while under pressure these past few weeks and is considered by many as the second favourite for the Wimbledon crown behind five-time champion Novak Djokovic.

“I feel I am playing for sure the best tennis of my career,” stated Berrettini on what was, for him, a not so Manic Monday.

“2019 I was playing good, but everything was kind of new. I had to adjust a little bit. Now I have more confidence for sure, more experience as well. I know I can achieve my best results like I'm doing quarters in Paris, quarters here. Obviously the tournament is not done yet. I'm really looking forward to achieving even more.”

Up next for Berrettini is his good friend and No.16 Felix Auger-Aliassime or German No.4 seed Alexander Zverev.

Berrettini’s biggest weapons are his serve and his forehand and his stats so far this Fortnight provide ample proof of that. The Italian tops the ace leaderboard for The Championships so far, with 67 struck through his four matches.

He has held serve in 59 of his 61 service games and has won 83 per cent of his first serve points and 65 per cent of his second serve points. Of the 161 winners he has unleashed so far, 54 came off the forehand side. His huge serve and forehand have allowed him to come into the net 85 times and he’s been successful in 72 per cent of his net points.

Berrettini is the first Italian man to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals since Davide Sanguinetti in 1998 and he is one of a strong group of players from his country causing a stir on the ATP tour. There are 10 Italian men in the top 100, three of which are inside the top 30.

The Rome native paid tribute to Italy’s golden generation of WTA players, like 2015 US Open champion Flavia Pennetta, 2010 Roland-Garros winner Francesca Schiavone, and Grand Slam finalists Roberta Vinci and Sara Errani, who all played a part in inspiring this current crop of Italian men.

“I remember watching them. I remember I was playing I think a future in Antalya in 2015 when Roberta and Flavia, they reached the final in the US Open. It was such a great moment for all of us,” Berrettini recalls.

“I think when you're playing tennis, it doesn't matter if it's a girl or a guy, you just follow. You just cheer for them. I met Flavia a really long time ago when I used to practise in Rome.

“They always kind of helped me because they were looking at me like the young one. Overall we have a great relationship. Also with Francesca Schiavone. I saw her in Madrid, then in Rome. She's still talking to my coach. We text a little bit. It's really nice.”

Berrettini recalls hitting with the now-retired Pennetta when he was 16 years old and said he gained more belief in himself from seeing his countrywomen achieve such great results.

“They helped us by showing us that everything is possible because they showed us that four players of the same generation, they were top seven I think. Seven, six, five, and four. They reached finals in slams. They won slams, 1000s. They showed us the things that they achieved we could think about achieving them.”

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