Sixth-seeded Matteo Berretini had to work hard at the U.S. Open on Monday as he defeated Oscar Ote 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the previous qualifiers to reach the semifinals for the second time in New York.
Reaching the final for the first time at Wimbledon, the Italian held on to great fears in a five-set third-round victory over Winston-Salem champion Ilya Ivashka.
The 25-year-old was re-tested against Ote, two hours and 22 minutes before he was able to move on, and survived by drowning in the second set. In the fourth set, the German struggled with a wrist injury.
“It was an interesting match, as I expected. A separate court, cheated player. I didn’t feel very good at first, Berretini said. I had to adapt to the situation and it was a match I knew I could win and when that happened it was never easy.
“I felt a little bit of pressure but I handled it very well. He was playing well and the right way not to let me play my best tennis. Oscar got a good run and I told him he didn’t deserve [go out with an injury], but it’s tennis “It happened to me in Australia this year. It was never easy but he can get a lot out of this competition.”
Flushing Meadows has memories of being ranked 8th in the world, which ran until its first major semifinal in 2019 at the USTA Billy Jean King National Tennis Center. World No. 1 Novak Djokovic or #NextGenATP American Jensen Brooksby in the semifinals.
Berretini now leads Otte 2-0 in their ATP Head 2 head series and with his victory in November, Nitto further strengthened his claim in the ATP Finals at home in Turin. The Italian has won medals on clay and grass in Belgrade at The Queens Club this year, while he has reached the final of his first ATP Masters 1000 in Madrid.
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From the start, both players hit with great force as they maneuvered around the court, getting decisive strikes in rallies. Despite matching Ote Italian for the first seven games, Berretini began to find his range to command his forehand. In the first set of the lead, the 25-year-old dropped just one point on his first serve (14/15).
However, in the second set, Berretini suffered a setback as he struggled to find the court on his backhand side as Otte took a 3-0 lead. The German imposed his big shot game on the Italian, as well as playing consistently, making just four inaccurate mistakes at level in the set.
In the third set, as he lifted his game, the push saw him move to No. 8 in the world rankings, hammering the ball inside the baseline as his foot improved to move forward. Ottela then fell 1-1 15/15 in the fourth set and injured his wrist in the process. Continuing on, Boretti’s victory did not allow him to hit the ball on his forehand.
Ote, currently ranked 144th in the FedEx ATP rankings, was the lowest-ranked male player in the fourth round of the US Open in 2006 after world number 179 Jiri Novak. The 28-year-old Dutchman was aiming to join the boutique van. De Zandschulp as the first pair of men to qualify for the final eight of the top eight in the Open era.
“All I want to say right now is, in the end I didn’t know how to finish it.” I’ll just go home tomorrow and then try to get more clearance with the doctor and MRI. But overall, there’s still a lot of competition. “
