MATTEO Berrettini will make his debut in a Grand Slam final after defeating 14th seed Pole Hubert Hurkacz in four sets last night to be handed the hardest task on Tour at Wimbledon – finding a way to crack world number one Novak Djokovic. The seventh seeded Italian defeated Hurkacz in a battle of the first-time Wimbledon semi-finalists – though Berrettini had reached a US Open semi-final before – 6-3 6-0 6-7 6-4 – to take on Djokovic, with the Serbian accounting for young Canadian Denis Shapovalov in three tight sets, 7-6 7-5 7-5.

“I have no words, really, just thanks. I need a couple of hours to understand what happened,” Berrettini said post-match. “I played a great match. I enjoyed the crowd, my family and whole team are there. I think I never dreamed about this, because it was too much for a dream.”

Berrettini looked to be cruising early, racing to a 6-3 6-0, winning 10 consecutive games in 58 minutes in a match which looked like a blow out. Hurkacz fought back after that disappointing start, winning the third set in a tiebreaker 7-3, before pushing the Italian in the final set. It would not be enough though as the Italian pounded down 22 aces to five, and won 86 and 61 per cent of his first and second serve points off a 63 per cent clip. He also smashed a whopping 60 winners to only 18 unforced errors, whilst Hurkacz had 27 and 26 respectively. The victory handed Berrettini an eleventh straight win on grass having won the title at Queen’s Club in the lead-up to Wimbledon.

“[My emotions] are all over the place. At the same time, I think I handled the situation pretty well,” Berrettini said. “[When] I stepped in the court, I was feeling confident. I knew that I could win the match. “I think I played my best match so far. “So I’m really happy for my performance.

“Especially after the third set… I felt I could win that set, also win the match, but [that] didn’t happen. I said to myself, ‘You’re playing better than him, so keep going like this and you’re going to win.'”

Now Berrettini will step up to the plate in his maiden Grand Slam final against a man who has no qualms in the final match of a major tournament in world number one, Djokovic. The Serbian took care of Shapovalov in a contrasting game of experience 7-6 7-5 7-5, to book a spot in the Wimbledon final and give himself the chance to tie the Grand Slam title record. Needing two hours and 44 minutes, Djokovic won 7-6 7-5 7-5 over the 10th seeded Canadian to book his spot in the final.

“I don’t think that the scoreline says enough about the performance and about the match. He was serving for the first set and he was probably the better player for most of the second set,” Djokovic said post-match. “He had many chances and I would like to give him a big round of applause for everything that he has done today and these two weeks.”

The world number one served eight aces to five and won 81 and 57 per cent of his first and second serve to Shapovalov’s 79 and 42 per cent. He also dominated at the net with an 85 per cent success rate, and won 33 per cent of his receiving points. Whilst hitting seven less winners than his opponent (33-40), Djokovic had far fewer unforced errors (15-36). Only able to break once, Shapovalov was not able to capitalise any more off 11 opportunities, while Djokovic broke three times from 10 chances.

“In [the] important moments, I think I probably held my nerves better than he did and just made him play an extra shot, made him [make] an unforced error,” Djokovic said. “It’s tough to play Denis, particularly on grass and quicker surfaces with the lefty serve that he’s got. He can hit any spot. I think he’s one of the best servers on the tour, without a doubt. When he’s on, when he’s feeling that serve, it’s a weapon on any surface against anyone.”

WIMBLEDON SEMI-FINALS RESULTS:

[1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) defeated [10] Denis Shapovalov (CAN) 7-6 7-5 7-5
[7] Matteo Berrettini (ITA) defeated [14] Hubert Hurkacz (POL) 6-3 6-0 6-7 6-4

Picture credit: Getty Images