“The LeBron James of Tennis?”: Matteo Berrettini Once Detailed Who Are the Kobe Bryants and Michael Jordans of Tennis

Matteo Berrettini created history at the Australian Open by becoming the first Italian man to reach the semifinals of the Australian Open. He did this by defeating Gael Monfils, in a high-intensity five-setter match. He will now face Rafael Nadal, who also had to struggle past Canada’s Denis Shapovalov in five sets.

In an interview last year, Matteo compared ATP Tennis stars to basketball greats like LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and Michael Jordan.

Berrettini compares the top 3 to basketball legends

Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have dominated the men’s tour for the last two decades. They share a whopping 60 grand slams between themselves, with 20 each. Matteo was asked if he could draw an analogy to the top 3 players in tennis and the top players in basketball. Matteo Berrettini obliged and shared his thoughts.

“

The LeBron James of tennis? Nadal, in terms of physicality and why they both exploded [onto the scene] very young,” he said. “I would compare Federer to Michael Jordan. Djokovic reminds me of Kobe Bryant, for how he remains cold in difficult situations,” he stated.

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Berrettini noted that the ‘Big Three’ had done great things for the sport and achieved a lot. However, he is of the opinion that the next-gen brings a better balance in the draw. “

Thiem is freed up and Medvedev impressed me when we trained together in London: he could be the next to win a Grand Slam, but many have come close,” he observed.

His prediction turned out to be correct as Medvedev was the next non-Big 3 player to win a slam at last year’s US Open.

Matteo Berrettini will face Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals

Named “The Hammer,” Berrettini used his flat groundstrokes to good effect to edge past Monfils. He said that he felt ‘unbelievable’ about being the first Italian to achieve this feat. Defeating Monfils 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 3-6, 6-2 in three hours and 49 minutes, Berrettini will surely appreciate the two days off before his semifinal match at the

Australian Open.

Matteo will be up against Rafael Nadal (or LeBron James) who will be going for his 21st Grand Slam title. Who do you think will emerge victorious?

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