Matteo Berrettini leaves in tears after early exit at Stuttgart

Matteo Berrettini's title defense at the 2023 Stuttgart Open was ended by compatriot Lorenzo Sonego in the first round.

Sonego beat the former World No. 6 in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2. Berretini exited the court in tears as his first outing on the ATP tour since April ended in disappointing fashion.

Sonego broke Berrettini, the seventh seed, four times and didn't give him an inch to get a firm footing in the match. Sonego also hit more winners (15 vs 9) and fewer unforced errors (7 vs 11) than Berrettini.

As Matteo Berrettini exited the court with tears in his eyes, the crowd at the Stuttgart Open cheered him on to try and lift his spirits. He was also seen apologizing to the crowd with clasped hands.

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This was Berrettini's first match since April when he withdrew from his third-round match against Holger Rune at the 2023 Monte Carlo Masters due to an abdominal injury. A prolonged recovery period meant that the Italian missed the remainder of the clay season.

The loss in Stuttgart was Berrettini's second defeat on the grass in his last 22 matches on the surface and his first since the 2021 Wimbledon Championships final (lost to Novak Djokovic).

Last year in Stuttgart, Berrettini defeated another grass veteran Andy Murray in the final 6-4, 5-7, 6-3. A week later, the 27-year-old also won the 2022 Queen's Club Championship, bettering Serbia's Filip Krajinovic in the final, 7-5, 6-4.

Meanwhile, Lorenzo Sonego will face either Australia's Christopher O'Connell or local favorite Daniel Altmaier in the second round.

Matteo Berrettini showers love on girlfriend Melissa Satta

Matteo Berrenttini recently posted an Instagram story to show his affection for girlfriend Melissa Satta, sharing a picture of them from an AIDS research fundraiser. Berrettini captioned the image 'sempre,' which is Italian for 'forever.'

Satta and Berrettini met via a mutual friend and hit it off. The pair officially announced their relationship in January this year. Satta discussed their relationship, and the 10-year age gap between them, in an interview with Vanity Fair.

Berrettini was previously in a relationship with Australia's No. 1 women's player Ajla Tomljanovic for almost three years. The couple's relationship was documented in Netflix's tennis documentary 'Break Point'.