Coach Vincenzo Santopadre is disappointed to see Wimbledon not awarding any points at this year’s tournament but acknowledged that it is still a very special place for his pupil Matteo Berrettini. Last year, Berrettini reached his maiden Grand Slam final at Wimbledon, before losing to Novak Djokovic.
Last month, the ATP sanctioned Wimbledon by removing ranking points from this year’s tournament. Berrettini is one of the players that will be hit hard by the ATP sanction on Wimbledon as he will drop out of the top-20 after Wimbledon.
“The charm of Wimbledon is indisputable. It is a special place for him where he left so many good memories. Even the less passionate about this sport discovered Matteo thanks to the results obtained at Wimbledon,” Santopadre said in an interview with Spazio Tennis, per Sportskeeda.
Berrettini’s coach Santopadre: Wimbledon is a historic place
Berrettini, 26, was just a win away from winning his first Grand Slam title at the most prestigious tennis tournament in the world. Berrettini won the first set of the Wimbledon final versus Djokovic, before losing in four sets.
“Wimbledon is a tournament that makes its own history. To date, I tell you that perhaps a different decision could have been made, other than freezing the points. It’s not easy to change your mind about an event of this magnitude that has instilled in your DNA a very different mentality than others.
I strongly doubt that they’ll change their mind,” Santopadre said. Berrettini will experience a notable rankings drop after Wimbledon but coach Santopadre is refusing to be negative. “To cultivate a winning mentality, you need to be able to see the glass half full.
Losing all these points meant Matteo had collected them and enjoyed the results. He can improve even more and repeat what he did last year. There is no concern under these terms,” Santopadre said, “Points are made by attacking and we are never on the defensive. Using football Jargon, our tactic is to score goals and not concede them.”
Source: Tennis World USA