Insolite - Berrettini imitates Alcaraz and asks to play earlier: "I'm going to do the same thing".
The European Football Championship is definitely having an impact on tennis this week. While Carlos Alcaraz recently admitted that he had asked the Queen's tournament to bring forward his match this Thursday so that he could watch the Spanish team's match against Italy, it's now Matteo Berrettini's turn to speak out on the subject.
Berrettini was inspired by the world number 2 at the Halle tournament in Germany. Indeed, after a successful return to competition last week in Stuttgart, where he reached the final, he easily passed the first round in Germany on Wednesday (victory over Michelsen, 7-6, 6-2).
As he faces Marcus Giron in the Round of 16 this Thursday, the Transalpine giant teased us in a press conference.
Clearly sharing the Spaniard's attraction for the Spain/Italy match, scheduled for 9pm on Thursday, he explained that he too would be asking the organizers to bring his match forward: "I'll try to follow them (the Italian team) on TV, even if I don't know what time I'll be playing tomorrow.
I saw that Alcaraz asked to play earlier, in London, and that he would then watch the match, so I'm going to do the same thing.
We Italians always feel something special when we play for our country. Spain are very strong: let's hope it goes through."