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If you have been following the ATP Finals in Turin, you will be all too aware of player injuries. The first of these happened to Matteo Berrettini, who was, of course, the home favourite. During his opening game against Alexander Zverev, he was forced to retire. The reason for this was due to an abdominal injury that has been bothering him for a while now. Sadly, this abdominal injury flared up after losing the first set and he had to quit the match.
While he made no immediate decisions at the time, he ultimately decided to withdraw from the entire tournament. This caused many tennis fans to wonder how severe the abdominal injury actually is. Above all, many people are questioning whether he will be fully fit to compete at the beginning of the 2022 season. That’s what I would like to discuss right now.
Berrettini injury – a closer look
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It’s hard to see when a player has to pull out injured from a tennis match. This is even harder to watch when the player breaks down in tears in front of his home fans. This is exactly what happened to Berrettini this week in Turin. And Berrettini fans are looking for answers as to his imminent future. I’ve performed my own research on this and have come up with the following conclusions:
2021 season finished
As mentioned above, when Berrettini stopped the match against Alexander Zverev, it wasn’t guaranteed that his tournament would be over. Yes, it didn’t look promising, but nothing was confirmed. Following the match, however, Berrettini had a series of medical tests done and he was advised to withdraw from the event. Given that this is the final tournament scheduled for him to play in 2021, his season is done.
At the same time, this could be a good thing. He now has the entire off-season to rest and rehabilitate his injury.
MRI scans confirmed oblique damage
Berrettini addressed the media after the match and confirmed that his MRI scans did show damage to the obliques. But to be honest, anyone who follows Berrettini would have expected this anyway. He also withdrew from the 2021 Australian Open with the same injury. And while it hasn’t plagued him since, it’s clearly an injury that isn’t solved. The fact that these scans have confirmed the damage suggests that he may need to have some time off.
Abdominal injuries can be tricky as a tennis player as well. This is particularly true since most tennis strokes involve abdominal exertion.
My personal view – he will be ready for Australia
We can’t pretend that his injury is something completely minor. In fact, if it wasn’t so severe, I doubt that he would retire in front of a home crowd. That’s just not in his character. However, in my personal opinion, I really do believe he will be ready for Australia. Assuming he treats the injury and follows medical advice to the letter, I am confident he will compete at the Australian Open.
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