Matteo Berrettini reveals who he preferred out of Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer growing up

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Matteo Berrettini enjoyed a strong year on the ATP Tour as he continued his rise up the world rankings.

Berrettini surged back into the world’s top 40 in 2024, having struggled with injuries in recent seasons.

His efforts haven’t gone unnoticed as Berrettini was nominated for ‘Comeback Player of the Year’, alongside Kei Nishikori and Marin Cilic.

The Italian won three ATP Tour titles this year, a number that is only bettered by his countryman Jannik Sinner, and Carlos Alcaraz.

Titles in Morocco, Switzerland, and Austria, saw the former Wimbledon finalist reach a ranking of 34, as he edges closer to being seeded at Grand Slams once more.

He ended the year in fine form as Berrettini impressed at the Davis Cup Finals, as Italy defended their title in dominant fashion.

Ahead of the 2025 season, however, the 28-year-old has looked back on his younger years, and which tennis legend he idolized.

Matteo Berrettini preferred Roger Federer to Novak Djokovic when he was younger

Speaking to the ATP Tour, for their ‘Love Letter To Tennis’ series, Berrettini recalled that it was his family that pushed him into tennis as a youngster.

“First thing that they did was give me a tennis racket when I was three and I remember that I didn’t like tennis so I stopped playing,” he said.

“I started playing at eight again because my brother that is younger told me to come back because it would have been fun.”

Jacopo Berrettini, Matteo’s younger brother, is currently ranked 318th in the world having enjoyed a career-best year on the Challenger Tour.

The brothers may have had different levels of success so far in tennis, but they both idolized two of the greats when they were younger.

“My brother would choose always [Novak] Djokovic, and I would always choose Roger [Federer],” said Berrettini.

“We would play for hours in the house, with balloons, with small rackets, big rackets, it didn’t matter, we were just having fun.

“We didn’t start in the right way but luckily we were able to change this.”

The Italian then went on to describe what happened at his first ever home tournament that he believes helped spur him on to Grand Slam success.

“2017 in Rome, my home tournament,” he said.

“I lost badly against Fabio Fognini, he killed me, you [tennis] hit me hard in that case, but at the same time, I felt so many emotions and great feelings that I wanted to feel again.

“I wanted to try again to get better, and the rest is history.

“I won quite a few titles, reached the finals in a Grand Slam, played the finals in London and in Turin.

“You [tennis] taught me to be resilient, to keep fighting, to trust the people that you’re working with.”

Can Matteo Berrettini become Italian number one ahead of Jannik Sinner?

Between 2019 and 2021, Berrettini finished the year inside the world’s top ten on all three occasions, establishing himself as the top star in Italian tennis.

It was in 2023, when the 28-year-old struggled with injury, that Sinner truly arrived on the ATP Tour, as he finished the year as world number four, before taking the number one spot this time around.

Sinner won the Australian Open and US Open in 2024, as he quickly became the most successful Italian tennis star in recent memory, eclipsing Berrettini’s efforts.

Berrettini was a force to be reckoned with, however, during the peak of his powers, reaching five Grand Slam quarter-finals or better in five Major appearances.

He’ll be hoping to pass some of his fellow Italians, and begin competing with Sinner in the new year.

It won’t be easy as the depth of talent in Italian tennis has never been stronger, with a strong comeback year for Berrettini only enough for the number four rank within his country.

He’ll be hoping for a strong start to 2025, that could see him set his sights on the top-ten and his countryman Sinner.

Berrettini is set to return at the Brisbane International which begins on December 30.