Berrettini rediscovering his confidence

Italian prevailed in a gruelling battle with Comesana

PARIS:

Matteo Berrettini said he finally feels like he can compete at a high level again after beating Francisco Comesana at the French Open to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam for just the second time since 2022.

Berrettini, a former world number six, has struggled with fitness issues and missed eight of the 18 Grand Slams since his runner-up finish to Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon five years ago.

On Saturday, the Italian prevailed in a gruelling five-hour battle with Argentina's Comesana, winning 7-6(3) 5-7 6-7(4) 6-4 7-6(15-13).

"I know what it takes ⁠to go deep in a slam, but at the same time, it's also true that I haven't been deep in a slam for a long time," Berrettini told reporters after his win.

"Coming into the tournament, I didn't have the confidence, like I had a couple of years ago, but at the same time, I feel like I have built this confidence up.

"I'm in the fourth round, second week of Paris, means that I can go deep. I'm playing well. Today was, I think, a high-level match. My weapons are ⁠working, physically I'm there, and fingers crossed."

After the match, Berrettini appeared to be holding back tears as he waved to the crowd at Court Simonne Mathieu.

"I doubted about myself a little bit too much, I think, in the last months and years," the 30-year-old said.

"Even though I had ⁠unbelievable support from my family, from my friends, from my team, and everybody kept telling me that I still had it in me. Sometimes I just have to confess that I thought that ⁠I couldn't come back, I couldn't feel good on court again.

"That's why I was emotional, because I proved to myself one more time that I can do this, I ⁠can do it well, I can fight, I can enjoy my time on court."

Berrettini next faces another Argentinian in Juan Manuel Cerundolo, who beat world number one Jannik Sinner in the second round.