Five Minutes with Matteo Berrettini
In one of the biggest upsets of this year's Australian Open, Italian Matteo Berrettini lost a five-set battle to Andy Murray. "It was a little different from what I expected," Berrettini said, in a press conference after the match. "It was cold, I was ready for different conditions. Andy just handled the situation better."
"I don't think I played really great today," he continued. "Last year, I won 7-6 in the fifth, this year I lost 7-6 in the fifth. Tennis," he said with a defeated air.
He had been hoping for a "strong start" to his 2023 season, he told Town & Country over Zoom before the tournament began. "Having a strong start here helps for the confidence, for the pressure to go away a little bit more," he said. His momentum, however, will have to wait a bit longer.
Some are calling Berrettini's loss part of a "Netflix curse." Many of the players featured in Netflix's Break Point, a new docuseries that follows life on the professional tennis tour, had to pull out of the Australian Open due to injuries, including his former girlfriend Ajla Tomljanović, Nick Kyrgios, and Paula Badosa, and others lost in surprising upsets in the second round, like Ons Jabeur, Taylor Fritz, and Casper Ruud.
"I didn't know that was a [thing]," Fritz said of the so-called curse in a press conference early in the tournament. "Obviously I noticed the people pulling out of the tournament, but I didn't know it was a thing, like, I'm going to lose my first round because I'm in the Netflix show. I didn't think of that." That said, numerous players featured made it past the second round of the tournament, including Maria Sakkari and Félix Auger-Alissame.
Despite the loss, Berrettini's feature in Break Point will introduce the Italian star to legions of new fans around the world—and they'll cheering for him, win or lose. Here, he speaks with T&C about Netflix, his family in Italy, and what he's looking forward to this year.
Congratulations on Break Point. Have you seen it yet? What was your reaction to watching it?
Thank you. Yeah, I saw my episode, the second one. It was nice. It was cool to see how it looked. When I was recording, when the cameras were on me, I tried to be as natural as possible—at the beginning it's not easy.
Watching back was great memories. Obviously from last year here [in Australia], I had a long run, and looking at it, I felt good. It actually helped me to remember those good moments.
Your family features in your episode. What does it mean for you to get to show where you come from on a global platform like Netflix?
I never even dreamed about that, because it was too much to think about. I remember a few years ago, I was sitting at my grandma's house to set up Netflix to help her watch her shows, and I would've never imagined to have something that was showing me on Netflix.
It makes me proud, but it's more about my family. What they feel about me—the fact that they stay up all night until 4, 5 a.m. to watch my games, my matches—it's something that makes me really happy, especially because I think about where and when I started. When I was a kid, they used to take me everywhere close to Rome [to compete in] small tournaments, like the weekends when they could've been resting from their jobs. They really want me to play and enjoy. It's a special thing for everybody.
What do you hope viewers learn most about you and about tennis from the show?
It was me! I wasn't acting, that is me! I hope people are going to see that. And see how I do everything. When I do something that I care about, I put in my 100%. And that's something that when you feel it, you feel it. But when you see it, then you have security [knowing] it's actually like that. So I really like that.
In a way, [filming] feels like so long ago, but in a way it feels like it was two weeks ago. Time is flying. It doesn't seem real that it was a year ago already. So I learned that I have to enjoy every single moment, because time is going way too fast. And hopefully it's not going to be my best result in Australia.
What are you looking forward to most about the 2023 season?
The season is long. Unfortunately, last year I couldn't play much, so I'm especially looking forward to the tournaments that I didn't play last year. So hopefully being healthy a little bit more than last year. Otherwise, every tournament you play, you feel like you have to reach the best result possible. Obviously you do all the time, but if you play 10 tournaments, it's a little bit tougher. So health, and to be able to be mentally good. Last year, there were a lot of ups and downs due to the injuries, and everything that happened.
The more time is passing, the more it's like, this life is great, but it gets sometimes tiring. So, it's important to find the right balance.
This conversation has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.
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