Berrettini's latest post-injury 'question': How to answer Djokovic in Doha?

The highs and lows of life on the ATP Tour are well engrained in the mind of Matteo Berrettini.

Having returned from a six-month injury layoff to clinch three tour-level titles, the Italian was named ATP’s Comeback Player of the Year in 2024. Berrettini’s bounceback was anything but easy, but he is now reaping the rewards of his efforts and is back in the mix at some of the biggest tournaments on the ATP Tour, including the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha, where he will take on Novak Djokovic in the first round on Tuesday.

“It’s really special to feel good again on court, to feel competitive after so many months without playing, with so many questions that I had the chance to answer,” Berrettini told ATPTour.com. “I'm really glad for the work that I put in with my team and hard work that I put on myself actually, to be able to come back. It’s a special prize and I'm really, really happy to be back healthy and playing good tennis.

“I was watching tennis, and I was telling myself that I wanted to be back there. I wanted to play in the best tournaments, I wanted to lift titles, and it was a really important part. Obviously you struggle, you're unhappy about what's happening, but at the same time you find the energy in those moments.”

Berrettini, the former No. 6 in the PIF ATP Rankings, will have the opportunity to use that energy to answer the ultimate questions this week in Doha. The 28-year-old faces two-time titlist Djokovic, who leads their Lexus ATP Head2Head series 4-0, in a blockbuster opening-round match at the newly upgraded ATP 500.

The pair have not met since 2021, when they clashed in each of the final three Grand Slam tournaments of the year, including the Wimbledon final. All those matches were won by the Serbian in four sets but, speaking ahead of their Doha opener, Berrettini is relishing a new chapter in their rivalry.

“He's always Novak, even though he got injured in Australia,” said Berrettini of Djokovic, who retired from his semi-final at the Australian Open last month. “I expect a really tough match, but I'm also excited. Playing one of the best and one of the greatest ever, it's always a great pleasure and hopefully I can get the first win here.

“So much time has passed [since 2021], so I think I’m a different player, so many things happened. The approach is going to be the same. I want to play aggressive. I want to try to serve well and be aggressive in the important moments. Playing in a Slam is different, I was in a different time of my career, so I have to look at the matches, but I also have to come up with some new stuff.”

Berrettini arrived in Doha after a difficult start to the 2025 season, in which he has tallied a 1-3 record. The Italian fell to Holger Rune in the second round of the Australian Open, and was defeated by home favourite Tallon Griekspoor in his Rotterdam opener earlier this month. Berrettini will, however, be able to draw on fond memories from his time in Doha, where he first competed in 2018.

“I remember that it was my first ATP win, so I have great memories of this tournament,” said Berrettini, who notched his tour-level breakthrough by beating Viktor Troicki in the first round as a qualifier that year in Doha. “It was obviously a 250 before, but now it's a 500. The field is so packed. I feel like this tournament deserved to be a 500. The cut was always so strong and [there was] a high level of champions. If you look at the past champions, it was really unbelievable. So it's good to be back.”