Another injury for the Roman, who falls and twists his ankle badly but manages to leave the field with his legs. And the memory of Zverev goes immediately
Matteo Berrettini falls into the nightmare again having a horrific day at the US Open. The Blue suffers throughout the game against Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech, but then injures himself and is eliminated from the tournament. Berrettini, a set behind and in a very awkward situation of having to defend the second set before the Frenchman’s serve, falls trying to put the ball full length into the opponent’s attack. Matteo injures his right ankle, cuts his elbow as well (but that doesn’t worry him) and limps off to applause from the crowd. A great bitterness in a cursed year 2023 for the Roman. Arthur Rinderknech manages something he’s never done before: he advances to the third round of the US Open by winning 6-4, 5-3 in an hour and 44 minutes thanks to Matteo’s withdrawal.
THE INJURY
—
The injury appears to be similar to Sascha Zverev’s almost a year and a half ago and still sticks in the minds of fans. At Roland Garros 2022, the German injured his ankle twisted very badly against Nadal and yelled at Paris Center. Berrettini’s screams might have been less impressive than Zverev’s, but that injury was very serious and blocked Sascha’s season. Let’s hope it’s nothing serious after all the nightmares we’ve had.
THE MATCH
—
Berrettini suffered a lot from the opponent from the start. The Frenchman serves perfectly and flawlessly and doesn’t let Matteo concede. Berrettini suffers from the good mobility of the very confident Arthur. After saving five break points in two different games, Berrettini fell when it was necessary to defend the part and Rinderknech broke serve and took the set. In the second part the music does not change. Arthur comes close to the break in the first game, then finds it for the third time in the sixth game. Berrettini jumps to 3-5 and earns the first (and only) break point of the game when he has to concede to avoid going two sets down. Maybe he would have managed to turn the race around, we’ll never know as the ankle twists and takes away any hopes of a comeback. It really is a cursed year and it’s a real shame for the blue.
© REPRODUCTION RESERVED
