World number six Matteo Berrettini shook off mid-match doldrums to reach the fourth round of the Indian Wells WTA and ATP Masters on Tuesday as fourth-ranked Iga Swiatek led the way into the women’s quarter-finals. Italy’s Berrettini, the highest-ranked player left in his half of the draw, defeated South African Lloyd Harris 6-4, 7-5.
The 25-year-old Italian, owner of five ATP titles but seeking his first Masters 1000 crown, shot to prominence when he reached the final at Wimbledon in 2021, losing to Novak Djokovic. The Australian Open semi-finalist is the second-highest ranked man left in the draw behind fourth-seeded Rafael Nadal after the exits of Daniil Med-vedev, Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas. But he admitted he’ll need to do better after a victory in which he trailed 4-1 in the second set.
He fired 12 aces to claim the victory, polishing it off in straight sets despite trailing 4-1 in the second. “I got a little bit nervous,” he said. “I didn’t like how I handled the start of the second set. I let the anger out a little bit, which helped.
“I found the right balance in order to break him in the important moment and I then had the momen-tum.” A dozen aces also helped as Berrettini won five straight games to secure the victory and set up a fourth round clash with Miomir Kecmanovic.—APP
