Matteo Berrettini revealed on Netflix’s tennis documentary that his family wasn’t really rich and that there was a time when they feared he wouldn’t be able to make a living out of tennis. Berrettini, 26, is one of the best players from his generation as he is a Grand Slam finalist and has been ranked as high as No 6 in the world.
Reflecting on his tennis journey on Break Point, Berrettini admitted that he “was not supposed to become this tennis star.” “Tennis is in my DNA because my whole family plays. But I wasn’t supposed to become this, like, top-10 tennis player.
I wasn’t that good. I didn’t have a lot of strength. I was just tall and skinny. Like a giraffe or something. My parents were scared that I couldn’t make a living with tennis, and obviously we were not, like, rich. They were like, ‘Are you sure you want to do this?’ I remember telling them, ‘Yeah, I want to do this.’
What they told me is, ‘The only thing we want is that you put 100% in what you are doing.’ So it means when I step in the court, I push myself to the limit every time,” Berrettini revealed in the second episode of Break Point.
Berrettini certainly made his family proud
Berrettini, who turned professional in 2015, has certainly made his family proud. Eight years after turning pro, Berrettini has seven titles in his collection and for the past few years he has been considered among the best players in the game.
Also, Berrettini has earned a total of $10,794,890 in prize money so far in his career, per the ATP website. Berrettini, who will turn 27 in April, has just entered his prime years. Berrettini has a big game and it is not a secret that one of his biggest goals is to become a Grand Slam champion.
When Berrettini retires, he will very likely go down as one of the best players in Italian tennis history.
