Berrettini seizes another Gstaad title chance

Big-hitting Matteo Berrettini pounded 27 winners as he booked a third career final on the Swiss Open Gstaad clay with the hopes of repeating history six years aon.

The Italian who has endured two years of injury setbacks, put out top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6 (6), 7-5 on Saturday in his VIP alpine village in one and three-quarter-hours.

Berrettini, 28, had lost four previous matches to the Greek ranked 12th in the world.

He finished off victory to set up a Sunday final against France’s Quentin Halys, who stopped Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3, 7-6 (2).

But after nearly a week of sunshine, the Sunday forecast calls for rain which could disrupt a final which traditionally begins before noon so as not to clash with Formula 1 racing in the afternoon.

Berrettini finished on his first match point;he will play his eighth final on clay,the 15th of his career and his third here.

“This final feels special for many reasons,” he said. I’ve been out of court with injuries. I’m reaching a final in a really special place.

“This third final is definitely the best.”

The No. 82 who once stood inside the Top 10 is counting on his serve in the final with 192-ranked Halys.

The pair actually played in a small Italian tournament, with the Frenchman taking the win at the lower levels of the game.

Berrettini was able to count on his serve in the defeat of Tsitsipas. “The serve has to be focused, things can quickly change.

“I played well in the tiebreaker and I believed that something could happen in the return game – it took me until then to break him.”