Matteo Berrettini Bio
Matteo Berrettini is an Italian professional tennis player, born on 12 April 1996 in Rome, Italy. Standing 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) tall, he has built his reputation on a powerful serve and a heavy, aggressive forehand, the central pillars of his all-court game. Berrettini has won ten ATP Tour singles titles and two doubles titles, reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 6 in January 2022, and represented Italy in the Davis Cup. He is also the first Italian man to reach the quarterfinals or better at all four Grand Slam tournaments, a milestone that underlines his standing in modern Italian tennis.
Early Life and Background
Matteo Berrettini was born in Rome to Luca Berrettini and Claudia Bigo and grew up in the Italian capital alongside a younger brother, Jacopo, who is also a competitive tennis player. Through his maternal grandmother, Lucia Fogaça, a Brazilian born in Rio de Janeiro, Berrettini has partial Brazilian heritage, an element of his family background he has occasionally referenced in interviews.
He played his first junior match in May 2011 at the age of 15, and quickly developed on the Italian junior circuit. He won six junior singles titles, five of them on clay and one on hard court, and reached a career-high junior ranking of world No. 52. Across his junior career, he recorded 84 wins against 30 losses and competed in all four junior Grand Slams in 2014, reaching the second round at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, the third round at the US Open, and the quarterfinals in junior doubles at the French Open.
Path to Tennis
Berrettini turned professional in 2015 and initially worked his way through the ITF World Tennis Tour and the ATP Challenger Tour, winning two ITF titles and three Challenger titles. His development was guided from 2011 by coach Vincenzo Santopadre, a long-term mentor who helped him bridge the gap from promising junior to reliable tour-level player. By May 2018, his consistent results on the Challenger circuit pushed him into the ATP top 100, clearing the way for a sustained run at the highest level of the sport.
His transition to the main tour was marked by steady improvement rather than an overnight breakthrough. Working under Santopadre, Berrettini refined the aggressive baseline patterns and serve-and-volley habits that have since become his trademarks. Within months of his top-100 debut, he was reaching his first ATP final, setting the stage for the titles and major runs that would follow.
Matteo Berrettini Career
Early Career (2017-2018)
Berrettini made his ATP main-draw debut at the Italian Open in 2017 after earning a wildcard through the pre-qualifying wildcard tournament, losing in the first round to Fabio Fognini. He was also the top seed in the Italian field competing for the final spot at the inaugural Next Generation ATP Finals in Milan, but was eliminated in straight sets by Filippo Baldi.
His first full breakthrough came in 2018. After qualifying for the Qatar ExxonMobil Open and recording his first tour-level win over Viktor Troicki, Berrettini reached his first Grand Slam main draw as a lucky loser at the Australian Open. Later that summer, at the Swiss Open Gstaad, he captured his maiden ATP singles title by defeating Roberto Bautista Agut in the final and added his first ATP doubles title at the same event, partnering with Daniele Bracciali. He broke into the top 60 as a result.
2019: Major Semifinal and Top 10
Berrettini began 2019 by winning his second ATP singles title at the Hungarian Open, defeating Filip Krajinović in the final. He reached the final of the Bavarian International Tennis Championships the following week, where Cristian Garín snapped a nine-match winning streak in a third-set tiebreaker. A first win over a top-5 player, against Alexander Zverev at the Italian Open, signaled his arrival among the elite.
On the grass, he won his third title of the year at the Stuttgart Open over Félix Auger-Aliassime, not dropping serve all week, and reached the semifinals at the Halle Open. He entered the top 20 for the first time. At Wimbledon, he advanced to the fourth round, where he lost to Roger Federer, and at the US Open he reached his first major semifinal by beating Andrey Rublev and Gaël Monfils, becoming the first Italian man in the US Open semifinals since 1977. A semifinal at the Shanghai Masters, a runner-up finish at the Vienna Open, and a first ATP Finals appearance in London, where he became the first Italian man to win a match at the event by defeating Dominic Thiem, took him to a year-end ranking inside the top 10.
2021: Wimbledon Final
Berrettini’s 2021 season was defined by his run to a maiden Grand Slam final. After helping Italy reach the ATP Cup final, he won the Serbia Open on clay and reached his first Masters 1000 final at the Madrid Open, losing to Alexander Zverev. At the French Open, he became the first Italian man to reach the fourth round at all four majors, then advanced to the quarterfinals before falling to Novak Djokovic.
On grass, he won the biggest title of his career at the Queen’s Club Championships, his first ATP 500 trophy and the first by an Italian at the event. At Wimbledon, he beat Andy Murray, Dan Evans, Cameron Norrie, and Félix Auger-Aliassime to become the first Italian man in the Open Era to reach the Wimbledon semifinals and the first since Nicola Pietrangeli in 1960, before ending Hubert Hurkacz’s run to reach the final. He lost to Djokovic in four sets. A quarterfinal at the US Open followed, and an abdominal injury forced him to withdraw from the ATP Finals.
Matteo Berrettini Family
Family Background and Personal Life
Berrettini was born in Rome to Luca Berrettini and Claudia Bigo, with a younger brother, Jacopo, who also plays tennis professionally. His maternal grandmother, Lucia Fogaça, was born in Rio de Janeiro, giving him partial Brazilian heritage. He is based in Monte Carlo, Monaco.
From 2019 to 2022, Berrettini was in a relationship with Croatian-born Australian tennis player Ajla Tomljanović. In January 2023, he was first seen publicly with Italian television presenter Melissa Satta, and in February 2024 he confirmed in an online press conference that the couple had split.
2025 Season Performance
The 2025 season has been heavily shaped by physical issues for Berrettini. Following his retirement at the 2025 Italian Open due to injury, he was forced to withdraw from the 2025 French Open and, later, the 2025 US Open, extending a run of major absences that began in 2022. By missing the US Open, he has now missed seven Grand Slam tournaments across the last four years.
His campaign was still notable for his contributions to Italy’s Davis Cup-winning team, a result that added a second consecutive national-team crown to his resume. The injury setbacks, however, kept him outside the top tier of the rankings for most of the year, and the focus has been on rehabilitation and a measured return to competition.
Looking beyond the immediate setbacks, Berrettini’s experience on grass and on fast indoor courts, combined with the continued guidance of his coaching team, leaves him well placed to target a full 2026 return. A healthy offseason and a clean block of training are the priorities as he works to climb back toward the top 30 and resume his pursuit of a first Grand Slam title.