During a training session before the Cincinnati Open, Matteo Berrettini lost his temper over a practice shot, hurling his racket into the empty stands. The clip posted on Instagram will resonate with anyone who has been through the intense heat and humidity of August in Ohio. Even though he threw the racket, he didn’t dwell on it; he went ahead to pick it up and went straight back to the business. 

For Berrettini, the stakes are high in Cincinnati. The Italian enters the tournament unseeded at world No. 41, after dropping his last outing in three sets to Argentine Mariano Navone in the first round of the National Bank Open. He didn’t waste time and directly reached the Lindner Family Tennis Center, where he was spotted practising with Jack Draper. The former world No. 6 has had good runs at the French Open and Wimbledon, turning his focus to the final major of the season. 

The Cincinnati Open takes place from August 13-23 in Mason, Ohio, as the final Masters 1000 warmup before the US Open later this month. Last year’s two finalists, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, have withdrawn from the tournament, making the Masters open for other players like Alexander Zverev and Novak Djokovic. 

In recent years, Berrettini has had fitness problems get in the way of his career on multiple occasions, and his brief and frustrating session is a necessary component of staying pain-free and sharp for a Grand Slam. The Italian has spoken about the toll that his style of play takes on his body, and moments of frustration that he showed at the practice court are nothing new to a player who has been known to wear his emotions on his sleeve, from celebrating big serves to flashing his frustration after a mis-hit in the heat.

The Italian is by no means the only one who has lost his cool on the practice courts in Cincinnati. In 2023, Daniil Medvedev also threw his racket on the backboard in a heated practice session with Holger Rune, which sparked a flurry of comments online. In that context, Berrettini’s actions seem less like a strange outlier and more like a reaction to the challenging conditions all players undergo during their preparation for the tournament.

So far, the video isn’t likely to be seen as anything more than a moment of frustration in crushing conditions, which every player on tour has experienced at some point during a long, grinding summer swing. The opponent of the 30-year-old has not yet been determined, but as he is unseeded in the expanded 96-player draw, he will start in the round of 128 and face another unseeded player, a qualifier, or a wildcard in the first round on either August 13 or 14.