FORMER Top 10 talent Matteo Berrettini is set to be seeded at the upcoming Grand Slams after rising up to 29th in the world today. The Italian saw off the challenge of fellow former world number six Gael Monfils at the Dubai Tennis Championships, 7-5 6-4.

The victory marked Berrettini’s third out of four matches in the past week, having defeated 24-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic, as well as Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor in Doha. In a hard-fought match against French veteran Monfils, Berrettini needed an hour and 24 minutes to shake off his opponent despite only dropping four points off his first serve.

On sheer serving numbers alone, the match should have been far more one-sided than the scoreline suggested, with Berrettini winning 35 of 39 points off his first serve (90 per cent) off a 74 per cent clip. He only won the five of 14 off his second serve which opened the door for Monfils to break him twice, but luckily the Italian converted four breaks of serve to secure the match.

Furthermore, Berrettini hit 10 more winners (26-16) and only four more unforced errors (22-18), with his explosive forehand producing 13 of them, while Monfils just kept himself in it with his well-renowned court coverage.

The last time these two faced off was in the 2022 Australian Open quarter final, where Berrettini won in a five-set thriller on Rod Laver Arena, 6-4 6-4 3-6 3-6 6-2. It was not the first time the pair had gone head-to-head over five sets in a Grand Slam quarter final, having also met at the 2019 US Open, with the same result. In total now, Berrettini leads the head-to-head 4-0.

“It was a great match, I felt like I played really good,” Berrettini said post-match. “I’m really happy with how I won the first set. It was really tough mentally after twice being a break up. At the end, the roar was because I am happy, I’m feeling good and enjoying my time on court.”

It was the first time in six years that Berrettini set foot at the Dubai Tennis Championships, and for the first time in almost two years returned back to the Top 30. He can leapfrog one more spot if he beats Australian qualifier Christopher O’Connell in the second round and serve bot Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard loses to top seed Daniil Medvedev as well. Winning the tournament could see him rise as high as 22nd in the world.

In other day two results, O’Connell overcame a still injured Grigor Dimitrov who had to retire after just six games, while top seed Medvedev fought past German Jan-Lennard Struff. Fresh off a title in Doha, third seed Andrey Rublev came crashing back to earth with a three-set loss to French qualifier Quentin Halys, while fifth seed Ugo Humbert and unseeded Griekspoor also won.

In other results, Italian Luca Nardi exacted revenge on Hungarian Marton Fucsovics, with the lucky loser defeating Fucsovics 1-6 6-2 6-3 after losing to him in qualifying prior to receiving a second chance. Croatian Marin Cilic also had a stunning win over second seed Alex de Minaur, while Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime won a three-set epic against Alexander Bublik and Portugese player Nuno Borges destroyed eight seed Frenchman Arthur Fils in 62 minutes.