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Matteo Berrettini may be able to play at the Australian Open 2024. As reported by the Italian website Gazzetta dello Sport, the Italian tennis player is currently training in Monte Carlo and will leave today for Australia to participate in the first Grand Slam of the season.
Berrettini postponed his departure due to a foot problem suffered during training, which forced him to miss the Brisbane tournament for which he was registered.
The return to the field in an official competition will be directly at the Australian Open, given that at the ATP 250 in Auckland scheduled for next week the 27-year-old does not have a ranking position high enough to rightfully enter the main draw.
Physical problems have continued to torment the Italian tennis player for over a year. Matteo was forced to further postpone his return to the field on the ATP Tour. This time it was a foot problem that stopped the Italian. The 27-year-old thus made the bitter decision to remove himself from the official entry list of the ATP 250 of Brisbane, in which he was currently out of some places to enter the main draw by right and was therefore expected to play in the qualifiers from 29 December.
Berrettini will have a difficult path in Melbourne
It is easy to hypothesize that the path that awaits the Italian in Melbourne is decidedly complicated, especially without a preparation tournament on Australian hard courts and with the last match played dating back to the end of August at the US Open.
However, the former Wimbledon finalist has had positive feedback from his right foot. Recently, on Instagram, Matteo also published a story in the elevator in the company of his brother Jacopo and the new coach Francisco Roig.
Matteo can't wait to continuously return to take part in events on the men's circuit. The 28-year-old dropped out of the top 100 of the ATP world rankings after more than 5 years but is now ready to face a challenging year.
The possibility of returning in March with the protected ranking, which comes into effect automatically after six months of inactivity, seems to have faded and is no longer taken into consideration by the player.