Matteo Berrettini (7) meets Guido Pella in the first round of the 2021 Championships on Wednesday, June 30th 2021.
Will we see the Guido Pella of old at Wimbledon as we all loved his amazing run in 2019 where he beat the likes of Marin Cilic or will Matteo Berrettini overpower the not in form Argentine who has had a very bad 2021 season?
Guido Pella knows that he can play some of his best tennis on grass, remembering his 2019 Wimbledon performances. However, he has not played well at all this year. Guido needs to find some confidence and consistency, but it is very hard for him to do so this late into the season. Guido has been handed a very tough draw, meeting Matteo who has been in form on grass in the last 2 weeks, but he will still have that belief in himself as everyone counted him out early in 2019 as well in London.
Matteo Berrettini knows he can be a very tough player to beat on grass here in London because of his recent performances, but he needs to be able to fix some critical aspects of his game. I think the second serve needs improving and if he can do that, he will be even harder to beat. Matteo can beat anyone on this side of the draw if he is at his best, he just needs to ensure he does not let easy points go by trying to over hit at times as we saw earlier in the month at the French Open against Novak Djokovic.
This is going to be the 1st meeting between both players, and I expect for a straight forward win for the Italian. Matteo has been superb on grass, and Guido has been shambolic on grass. Guido cannot just enter the tournament off of this form and cause a huge upset against such an in form player. Matteo will not want to waste time on court and he will get this match done quickly to ensure he focuses on more important rounds later on in London where he will need all his energy.