The mesmerizing effect of Roger Federer after you watch him play is what has led even his antics to appreciate the Swiss Maestro. His graceful yet imposing game has been engraved in the history of tennis. So, it is quite self-explanatory why he is an ethereal creature for his fans. A lot of budding tennis players look up to Roger Federer to embark on a similar journey as his. One such player is Matteo Berrettini who had the golden chance to hit some balls with the Swiss Maestro.

The once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for then an un-seeded player like Berrettini gave him the reality check to understand how much he needed to improve. The flawless gameplay of Federer actually turned out to be a lot more strenuous than Berrettini had hoped it to be.

The first encounter with Roger Federer set a bar for Matteo Berrettini 

The clay court was not Federer’s favorite. However, that does not mean that he did not give his best. It was 2015, and he was gearing up for the Italian Open. As Berrettini’s luck would have it, he got a chance to be Federer’s practicing partner during the semis and the finals of the ATP tour.

At that point, Berrettini was not even in the ATP 500 ranking. However, he had always looked up to Federer as a teenager. As noted by Simon Cambers, author of The Roger Federer Effect, Berrettini reminisced about his first face-to-face encounter with Federer. He stated, “It was 2015, and I was his sparring partner for the semis and the final in Rome.” He added, “I remember, we played probably for 25 minutes and I was sweating like I had played for three hours.”

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However, as graceful and effortless as his gameplay seemed for the spectators, Federer was nonetheless fierce. Berrettini backed that and stated, “For him, it was really easy to do anything on the court.”

The icing on the cake was when the Italian player went back. He stated, “It was nice because his team called me back for the final. It was a nice memory.”

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However, unfortunately, the memories of the 2023 Italian Open are not too nice for Berrettini. Owing to his injuries, the world no. 20 staged a walkover in the third-round match against Holger Rune.

Berrettini posed with Federer at Met Gala 2023

Nonetheless, the duo faced each other twice on the court, and both times his idol took the reign. However, that did not let Berrettini from posing with the co-chair of the Met Gala 2023.

The Italian player posed with his teenage idol and captioned it as, “The Met Gala 2023, with some friends.”

He turned up in all-black formal suit attire and posed with Federer wearing his bowtie black and white suit.

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For now, Berrettini is on a halt due to his injury. But do you think he can get up the ranking chart once again? Let us know in the comments below.