Matteo Berrettini's tough 2023 persists with early Miami exit; will a surface change help?

FLASHBACK: When Murray toppled Berrettini in Melbourne

Matteo Berrettini opened 2023 with reason to be inspired, winning his first three singles matches at the United Cup to lead his nation into the semifinals.

Since then, the former Wimbledon finalist has sputtered, going 2-6 at the tour level to head into a change of playing surfaces with much work to be done.

At the Australian Open, he lost from match point up against Andy Murray in a popcorn-filled opener. Afterwards, Berrettini said, “I personally didn't train much in the last pre-season. I was still struggling with some injuries. I was kind of like, ‘Okay, let's see if I'm ready for five sets.’ And I was ready. So I'm happy for that.”

Even so, the 26-year-old didn’t return to action for six weeks. After a pair of wins in Acapulco, he lost all seven games against Holger Rune before retiring to a booing crowd.

His Sunshine Double bid has now entailed zero wins and two losses—to players ranked No. 103 and No. 55 respectively.

On Saturday at the Miami Open, Berrettini was edged out by Mackenzie McDonald, 7-6 (8), 7-6 (5). The scoreboard could have easily been flipped in the Italian’s favor, as he failed to capitalize on a set point at 8-7 in the first-set tiebreaker and two set points in the second set when McDonald served at 5-6, 15-40.

In between Indian Wells and Miami, Berrettini attempted to regain a rhythm at the Phoenix Challenger. But he was sent packing in the last eight by then No. 132-ranked Alexander Shevchenko. During that eventual defeat, he told himself in Italian, “I swear I’m unwatchable.”

If there is any silver lining for Berrettini to hold onto right now, it’s the fact he has time to figure things out on red dirt. For the world No. 23 missed the entire European clay-court season a year ago when he was recovering from a right-hand injury and should in theory play with the freedom of having no results to defend.

Three of Berrettini’s seven career titles have come on clay, most recently at 2021 Belgrade 1. The Rome native's best Masters 1000 showing to date also occurred on the surface, at the Mutua Madrid Open two years ago when he finished runner-up to Alexander Zverev.