Less than 24 hours after Italy’s men’s football team advanced to the final of the Euros, Matteo Berrettini gave his home fans more reason to celebrate as he downed No.16 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals for the first time in his career.
The 25-year-old Berrettini became just the second Italian man to make the final four at The Championships, following in the footsteps of Nicola Pietrangeli, who achieved that feat in 1960.
“Everything is crazy right now,” said an out-of-breath Berrettini on court. “Thanks to Felix, I think we made a great match. I hope you guys enjoyed it. He’s probably one of my best friends on tour so it’s never easy to play against him. But that’s sport and I’m really happy.
“In Australia, when we did the quarantine, we practised for two weeks together, so we know each other pretty well. Today was really tricky. Good luck for him, but now I’m happy for me.”
The No.7 seed spoilt what would have been a Canadian party as Auger-Aliassime was attempting to catch up with his countryman Denis Shapovalov and make it two Canadian men in the semi-finals of a Grand Slam for the first time.
Undefeated on grass this season, Berrettini extended his current winning streak to 10 and will next take on Polish No.14 seed Hubert Hurkacz, who knocked out Roger Federer on Centre Court.
Berrettini and Auger-Aliassime are close friends and spend a significant amount of time together socially because their respective girlfriends are cousins. Through the first week of the Championships, Auger-Aliassime, Berrettini, and his girlfriend Ajla Tomljanovic, were all scheduled to play on the same day and it was a triple celebration in each round until Tomljanovic fell to Ashleigh Barty in the quarter-finals.
“I'm happy one of them will be through on Wednesday,” Tomljanovic said ahead of this showdown.
The 20-year-old Auger-Aliassime had won his last three matches against top-10 opposition – including against Roger Federer in Halle – and was contesting his first Grand Slam quarter-final, on just his second main draw appearance at the All England Club.
Berrettini enjoyed his best result at a slam when he reached the semi-finals at the US Open in 2019, and he was playing his second consecutive major quarter-final, having made the last eight at Roland-Garros.
Both players arrived to SW19 with some impressive performances on the grass under their belts. Berrettini won the biggest title of his career at Queen’s while Auger-Aliassime was a finalist on the lawns of Stuttgart and a semi-finalist in Halle.
Berrettini pounced early, breaking in game three, then doubled his advantage to carve a 5-1 opening. Auger-Aliassime launched a brief comeback, taking the next two games, but Berrettini still grabbed the set when a volley from his opponent landed in the net.
The Italian came up with huge serves to save a pair of break points early in the second set but Auger-Aliassime still managed to break, sending Berrettini wide with perfectly-angled groundstrokes that drew the error.
Berrettini erased a 1-3 deficit but still couldn’t find the form that enabled him to dominate in the opening set. He faltered at the net to surrender a break in the 11th game and Auger-Aliassime levelled the contest with his seventh ace.
The third set was a tight affair until Berrettini found a tiny window in the 12th game, peppering Auger-Aliassime with his monster forehand to break and take a two sets to one lead.
The Canadian realised he wasn’t going to beat Berrettini from the back of the court, but when he tried to mix it up and approach the net, the strategy did not pay off as he quickly fell behind 0-3 in the fourth. That one break of serve was all Berrettini needed to scoop a three-hour victory and secure a place in the final four.
“For sure it’s going to be the first time for both of us on grass at Wimbledon. Hubert is having a great season, he won Miami, he’s playing good, beating Federer in straight sets means he’s playing well, but I feel ready, I’m feeling confident,” he said.
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