“Will Not Be Able to Compete”: Matteo Berrettini Announces Disappointing News Ahead of Tokyo Olympics 2020

The tennis section at Summer Olympics this year in Tokyo might be a tricky one with so many popular names in the sport announcing their decision to pull out of the event. Matteo Berrettini was the latest to join a long list of stars like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Dominic Thiem in skipping the event.

There has always been some confusion in minds of players about going to the Tokyo Olympics. Initially, the Japanese government decided to allow fans to witness the spectacular event unfold.

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Strict guidelines at Tokyo Olympics 2020 forced athletes to pull out of the event

But, due to a steady rise in COVID-19 cases in Tokyo, the authorities decided to safeguard their citizens and announced new, stringent rules for athletes who choose to play the event.

With fans barred from entering the stadium, many tennis players decided to skip the event and decided to focus on their upcoming tournaments and ranking points.

There were also few athletes who played non-stop over the past few months and spending a couple of weeks in a tight-bubble in Tokyo would be expecting too much from them in a turbulent year like this.

Coming to the Italian tennis star Berrettini, he has been continuously playing tournaments right from the start of European clay-court season. In the message that confirmed his withdrawal from Olympics, Berrettini mentioned that he sustained a left leg injuring during the fortnight at Wimbledon.

“Extremely disappointed” – Matteo Berrettini on his Olympics withdrawal

“I am extremely disappointed to announce my withdrawal from the Tokyo Olympic Games. I had an MRI scan yesterday on the thigh injury I sustained during Wimbledon and was informed I will not be able to compete for a couple of weeks”,  Matteo mentioned in the statement.

Understandably, it has been a busy schedule for players from both the tours as they have been playing non-stop tennis since April.

Despite a lot of disappointing withdrawals, the singles draw at the Olympics is still competing enough for fans to watch. With the likes of Djokovic, Rublev, Medvedev, Tsitsipas, Zverev, etc., all being in the mix, it will be a competitive tournament for sure.

The draw will be released on 22nd July at 11am local time. Andy Murray is the defending champion on the men’s side. Monica Puig, who won the gold medal in 2016 Rio Olympics announced her decision to pull out of Tokyo Olympics last month.

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