Berrettini bludgeons Halys to repeat as Gstaad champion

Matteo Berrettini ran off 15 straight points on the way to a repeat of his 2018 Swiss Open Gstaad title on Sunday, crushing Quentin Halys 6-3, 6-0.

The Italian has lost just one career match in three appearances at 1,050 metres of altitude in this elite alpine village, winning his first career title six years ago and finishing runner up in 2022 to Casper Ruud.

Berrettini, ranked 82nd due to injury absences and on the rise after lifting his second title of the season (also Marrakech), was undaunted by a 20-minute rain interruption late in the opening set.

Sunday’s hour-long win handed him a ninth career trophy and a fifth on clay.

Former Top 10 player and Wimbledon finalist Berrettini  will lift his ranking 

into the Top 50 and has set a goal of reaching Top 30 – and an Australian Open seeding in January.

The Italian made a miracle recovery from 0-40 down in the sixth game of hte opening set, holding serve for 3-all and turning the match on its head.

He claimed the opening set with his first break of No. 192 Halys and won the first 15 points of the second set as he ran out the title win.

“I’m playing and enjoying it again,” he said after a win in 10 Celsius temperatures after a week of sun and 30C.

“I found the energy of six years ago here. This place is special to me, I’m so happy here.”

The Italian said he got off to a slow start; “”I had to figure out the way to play in these conditions. It took me a bit of time but I found the right energy (after his sixth game fightback).

“When we returned after the rain interruptions, I had the perfect focus.”

Berrettini was being driven to next week’s ATP clay event in the Austrian mountain resort of Kitzhuehe, which he last played in 2018, reaching the quarter-finals.