Berrettini Returns From Ab Injury, Wins 3 Games v Bestie Sonego In Stuttgart; Kyrgios Retuns
Two-time tournament champion Matteo Berrettini was back on the tennis court for the first time in nearly two months but his return was far from a success.
The Italian was dropped by countryman and good friend Lorenzo Sonego 6-1, 6-2.
“It’s tough,” said Sonego in his on-court interview. “I’m not happy because he’s my best friend on Tour and it’s tough to see him like that. I hope the best for him in the next tournament.
“Today I played my best tennis. This is my first tournament on grass, my first match, and I played really well. I’m really happy about that.”
Last year, Berrettini also missed the clay season but ran off multiple grass titles before testing positive for COVID ahead of Wimbledon. Today, the 20th-ranked Berrettini had five aces, won 14/28 (58%) of first serves.
Italians headlined the day in Germany as Lorenzo Musetti dismissed Croatia’s Borna Gojo 7-6(7-4), 6-3.
Also on Monday, Jiri Lehecka eliminated Marcos Giron 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Richard Gasquet handled Christopher Eubanks in straight sets 7-6(7-2), 6-4 and Yosuke Watanuki defeated the ageless Feliciano López 7-6(7-5), 6-3.
On Tuesday, No. 5 Tommy Paul takes on Benjamin Bonzi, No. 8 seed and 2-time semifinalist Nick Kyrgios tests Yibing Wu, Oscar Otte gets Gregoire Barrere, Aslan Karatsev will meet Corentin Moutet, Daniel Altmaier battles Christopher O’Connell and Jan-Lennard Struff locks up with Zhizhen Zhang.
Kyrgios is playing his first event since Tokyo last fall. He had surgery on his left knee in January.
“I wouldn’t say it was major surgery, but I had quite a serious surgery on my knee,” said the Wimbledon finalist Kyrgios. “It’s taken me about five months to get back to even playing.
“It’s been difficult, but at times it’s been amazing just to be home with my family. Tennis is a sport where you travel so much of the year and being home, for me, was important. But seeing everyone play wasn’t easy at times. I’m just super excited that my knee is a bit better and I’m able to play now.
“This year has been really tough for me, obviously recovering from knee surgery. I’m coming back at a tournament I’ve done really well in the past, played some amazing matches. The crowd is always really supportive, and the atmosphere is really good.”
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