Monte-Carlo tournament important, says 'birthday boy' Matteo Berrettini after comeback win"

Birthday boy Matteo Berrettini said that he cares a lot about the Monte-Carlo Masters after beating Francisco Cerundolo on Wednesday to reach the third round.

Playing only his fourth main draw match in the Principality, the 27-year-old made a rousing start, bursting to a 5-0 lead. However, in an unexpected turn of events, the Italian dropped seven straight games to concede the opener.

To his credit, the 2021 Wimbledon runner-up improved on serve, not conceding a break point and dropping just four points in the next two sets. After restoring parity by taking the second set on a tiebreak, Berrettini rode a lone break of serve to seal victory in two hours and 42 minutes.

Having previously been winless in two visits to the Principality, Berrettini is now 2-2 at the tournament. He said in his on-court interview that he 'cares a lot' about the event despite his underwhelming returns.

Explaining his first-set meltdown, the Italian said:

"I don't know, because it's my birthday. This tournament I care about a lot. I don't know what happened. I felt like a bit insecure what I was doing, and then he started to play better."

Berrettini said that he had to stem the rot in the second, sounding pleased with the way he came through a challenging match:

"It's tennis. It's a mental game. I couldn't win the first set, but in the second, I said: 'I cannot let it go like that. I have to fight. I have to be there.'

"I didn't play many matches in the last months. I missed these kinds of scenarios and atmospheres. Really glad that I fought through, and yeah, happy for the win."

Berrettini will next take on sixth seed Holger Rune on Thursday for a place in the last eight. It will be his first third-round match at a Masters 1000 event since Indian Wells last year.

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How has Matteo Berrettini fared this season?

Matteo Berrettini hasn't played much this year.

Matteo Berrettini made his season debut at the inaugural United Cup, where he won his first three matches for Team Italy.

The Italian then dropped his next three matches before returning to winning ways at Acapulco, where he reached the quarterfinals. Either side of a run to the Phoenix Challenger quarterfinals, Berrettini stumbled in the first round at Indian Wells and Miami.

He returned to winning ways on the ATP Tour in Monte-Carlo, beating Maxime Cressy to get off the mark in the Principality. With his win over Cerundolo on Wednesday, Matteo Berrettini is now 7-6 on the season.