Sports

Wimbledon semi-finalist Hubert Hurkacz insists Matteo Berrettini has ‘really big chance’ of winning final against Novak Djokovic


Italy’s Matteo Berrettini faces Serbia’s Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final (Pictures: Getty)

Wimbledon semi-finalist Hubert Hurkacz insists his conqueror Matteo Berrettini has a ‘really big chance’ of winning Wimbledon ahead of his final against world number one Novak Djokovic.

Berrettini became the first Italian player to reach a singles final at the All England Club when he beat Poland’s Hurkacz in four sets on Friday.

The reigning Queen’s champion will now attempt to win his first Grand Slam and deny Serbia legend Djokovic a record-equalling 20th Grand Slam title and sixth victory in SW19.

Djokovic has already won two majors in 2021 and dropped just one set on his route to the Wimbledon final, beating Canada’s Denis Shapovalov in straight sets to reach Sunday’s showpiece event.

The 34-year-old tennis legend will be the heavy favourite to win yet another Wimbledon but Hurkacz insists Berrettini has the tools to compete with the world’s best.

‘Matteo played pretty great,’ Hurkacz said after his defeat to Berrettini but before Djokovic had beaten Shapovalov on Centre Court.

‘He really didn’t make many mistakes throughout the whole four sets and served bombs.

Wimbledon semi-finalist Hubert Hurkacz has talked up Berrettini (Picture: Getty)

‘Huge congrats for him. If he continues to play like this, he has really big chance in the final.’

This was the first time Hurkacz had progressed past the second round of a major and he says playing his first Grand Slam semi-final at Centre Court was ‘such a pleasure’.

‘Obviously, playing in front of that amazing crowd, it was such a pleasure,’ he added.

‘I like playing super big matches, especially semi-finals and finals. I’m super happy to experience that.’

Big-serving Berrettini, who became the first Italian man since Adriano Panatta at the 1976 French Open to reach a major singles final, produced a superb performance to beat Hurkacz, hitting 22 aces.

He said: ‘I have no words, really. I need a couple of hours to understand what happened. I think I never dreamed about this because it was too much for a dream.’

For more stories like this, check our sport page

Follow Metro Sport across our social channels, on FacebookTwitter and Instagram





READ SOURCE

Leave a Reply

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you accept our use of cookies.