Berrettini picks up the pace into third Gstaad semi-final

Former champion and runner-up Matteo Berrettini drilled Felix Auger Aliassime 7-6 (7) 7-6 (2) on Friday as the eager Italian continued to make up for lost injury time  with a semi-final place at the Swiss Open Gstaad.

The Roman who won the title at this elite Alpine village six years ago and played the 2022 final against Casper Ruud, set up a Saturday showdown with top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.

The Greek dispatched Berrettini’s colourful countryman Fabio Fognini 6-4, 6-3 as he continues a red-hot debut week at altitude.

Berrettini is marching through a comeback after two seasons of various injuries including wrist surgery.

The No. 82 who once reached sixth on the ATP list has never beaten Tsitsipas, who has won their matches in Melbourne (twice), Rome, New York and the United Cup.

Berrettini overcame FAA for the fifth time in seven meetings; their Gstaad match featured  a combined seven missed break point chances of two hours-plus.

The 28-year-old Italian moved through to the final four on his second match point as the Canadian drove wide.

Berrettini, titlewinner at Marrakech and finalist in Stuttgart this season, said he’s hungry to play.

“As long as I’m playing, I’m happy. I barely remember this match, but we were both serving well.

“Conditions were different today, there was more clay on the court (due to less wind blowing it about).”

The winner added: “I’ve been struggling over the past months, I really wanted to play again.”

Though Tsitsipas has the numerical edge in their semi, Berretini is not intimidated.

“He is the top seed, he’s had an unbelievable career with so many title on clay.

“It will be a really tough match – but I like the conditions here, they suit my game.

“I give myself a great chance to defeat him.”