Matteo Berrettini is much better known than Paolini was a year ago. He’s been to the semifinals or better at three of the majors, and ranked as high as No. 6. But his body, seemingly made of glass, has betrayed him for such long periods that he had largely become an afterthought by this season. He finished 2023 ranked 92nd, and 2024 ranked 34th.
Does that jump portend another in 2025? While he has been passed by younger countrymen like Jannik Sinner, Lorenzo Musetti, and Flavio Cobolli, the spotlight found Berrettini again at the end of last year when he helped lead Italy to its second straight Davis Cup.
Berrettini says he has been inspired by Sinner’s success. If he can hold his body together—a massive if—maybe 2025 will be the year when he adds his name back to our current Italian tennis renaissance.
