Berrettini smiles again in Stuttgart!

Matteo Berrettini and grass is a beautiful love story. For the past three years, the Italian has been one of the strongest players on the circuit. A two-time winner at Queen's and Stuttgart, as well as a finalist at Wimbledon (2021), the 28-year-old colossus' game works wonders on grass.

Yet this season, you'd have thought things would turn out differently. His physical problems had prevented him from making a winning comeback in April, winning the Marrakech tournament, before he faltered again. Having not played a professional match since April, he is now making another winning comeback.

Back on his preferred surface, Berrettini has won three convincing matches to reach the semi-finals in Stuttgart. Ranked 95th in the world this week, he eliminated Safiullin (7-6, 5-7, 7-5), Shapovalov (6-4, 6-4) and Duckworth (6-4, 7-5). Although he has not yet rediscovered the level of play that took him to No. 6 in the world rankings, the Transalpine is on the rise. Buoyed by his ever-efficient serve (46 aces and just one break point in 3 matches) and devastating forehand, 'Matteo' could well surprise everyone by winning for the third time in his career in Stuttgart (after 2019 and 2022).

For a place in the final, he will face the winner of the match between Bublik and Musetti.