Funny Berrettini confessed he wasn’t against Monfils, but backing Shapovalov to qualify for the ATP Finals

The Italian will make his debut at the ATP Finals next week after Monfils failed to win his quarterfinal match at the Paris Masters.

Funny Berrettini confessed he wasn't against Monfils, but backing Shapovalov to qualify for the ATP Finals

Matteo Berrettini was the last player to seal a spot at the ATP Finals. The end of season tournament will begin on 10th November in London. The Italian will be making his first appearance at the tournament. However, the 23-year-old withstood a scare from Gael Monfils who had a chance to qualify but failed to win his quarterfinal match in Bercy.

The battle for the final qualification spot

Monfils and Berrettini entered the tournament with the hope of qualifying for the finals. Their performance at the ATP 1000 Masters tournament would determine who would secure the final spot in London. The French got the advantage after Matteo lost in the second round to Jo Wilfried Tsonga. He qualified for the quarterfinals and a win in his match against Denis Shapovalov would have earned him a place in the tournament. However, he was unable to overcome the 20-year-old Canadian. Shapovalov won the match 6-2 6-2 to end Monfils’s hopes of playing in London.

Berrettini rooted for Shapovalov

In an interview with La Gazzetta, the world No.8 admitted that he was rooting for Shapovalov in his match against Monfils. The current world number eight was aware that his early exit meant that qualification for London was out of his hands. He did not dwell on the situation and revealed that he would have been content to be the first reserve at the tournament. The Canadian’s win ensured that Matteo mathematically qualified for the finals. Denis joked that he expected a gift from the Italian, preferably a bottle of wine. Berrettini had a bottle of red wine to toast his qualification in London.

Matteo commented “It would have been fine anyway. I was there, at the mercy of the results of others, then I said to myself: ‘Matteo, come on, it’s not worth being so obsessed. I am, so proud of me and of what I did this quest year that even if I had been the first reserve for the Finals it would have been a great result “.

The Italian will play his first match at the tournament against Novak Djokovic. The match will be the first time they play against each other. The two are in the same group along with Roger Federer and Dominic Thiem. Berrettini has had some great results this year. He reached the semi-finals at the US Open where he lost to Rafael Nadal. Most recently, he made it to the semifinals of the Shanghai Masters and the Vienna Open. He lost to Thiem in Vienna. The Italian has won singles titles in Budapest and Stuttgart this year. However, the 23-year-old has losing records against both Federer and Thiem. The 20-time Grand Slam champion won their only meeting at Wimbledon while the Austrian has a 2-1 winning record against the Italian.

Gael Monfils’s ranking and performance in 2019

Gael Monfils Stats info

Ranked no.10, the French Player played his last match on the 1st of November when he lost to Denis Shapovalov 6-2 6-2 in the quarter in Paris.

This year Monfils has a 37-18 win-loss record. The French Player has won 1 title in Rotterdam.

 

Matteo Berrettini’s ranking and performance in 2019

Matteo Berrettini Stats info

Ranked no.8 (career-high), Matteo played his last match on the 30th of October when he had to surrender to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4 6-3 in the 2nd round in Paris.

This year the Italian has a 46-21 win-loss record. Berrettini clinched 3 titles in 2019 in the Phoenix Challenger, in Budapest and in Stuttgart. Matteo was the finalist in Munich.

Gael Monfils and Matteo Berrettini played each other 1 time. The head to head is 1-0 for Berrettini.

The last time that they squared off, Matteo Berrettini won 3-6 6-3 6-2 3-6 7-65 in the quarter in New York on the 04th September 2019.

Here the highlights.

Gael Monfils and Matteo Berrettini

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