Shanghai Masters: Italian tennis star Matteo Berrettini edges past Australian Christopher O'Connell

Shanghai: Italian tennis star Matteo Berrettini edged past Australian Christopher O'Connell in a gripping second-round match at Shanghai Masters, here on Thursday. Berrettini clinched the match 7-6(9), 7-6(6), marking his first win of the season at the ATP Masters 1000 level. In a contest that lasted just over two hours, Berrettini fired 33 winners, including 11 aces. After withdrawing from the Tokyo second round due to an abdominal injury, the World No. 45 had been battling both physical setbacks and the mental toll of constant injuries.

"I'm happy to be back here and healthy," Berrettini said after the match. "Too often I have been thinking about how to be healthy, and it's something I've grown a bit tired of. One of the goals of the match was not to think about my condition, just to enjoy the match, enjoy the atmosphere, which I did."

The two-set tiebreaker battle saw Berrettini fend off two set points in the first-set tie-break. O'Connell ranked No. 71 in the world, pushed the Italian hard, but Berrettini’s experience and composure in the clutch moments made the difference.

Next, Berrettini faces a much-anticipated clash with Denmark’s Holger Rune in the second round. The two have a developing rivalry, with Rune holding a 2-1 edge in their head-to-head encounters.

Their most recent meeting, at the Cincinnati Masters in August, saw Rune stage a comeback to defeat Berrettini after dropping the first set. Now, in Shanghai, the Italian player will seek to level the head-to-head series. Agencies

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