Matteo Berrettini Takes Consecutive Titles at Swiss and Austrian Opens
The Italian prevailed again this week - playing against Hugo Gaston of France in the Austrian final.
Last week, Matteo Berrettini of Italy, 28, won the title at the 2024 Swiss Open. Today, he was once again victorious - taking the title at the 2024 Austrian Open in Kitzbühel, Austria. In the final of the ATP 250 event, Berrettini prevailed 7-5 and 6-3 against Hugo Gaston of France, 23.
This was the second match Berrettini and Gaston have played against each other on the ATP Tour - with Berrettini winning their prior meeting. Today’s victory was the third title Berrettini has won on the 2024 ATP Tour and the tenth title of his career in single’s competition. Notably, this was the sixth title he has claimed from a clay court event. And finally, he becomes the first player representing Italy to win in Kitzbühel since Paolo Lorenzi in 2016.
Heading into this tournament, Berrettini was ranked as the Number 50 tennis player on the 2024 ATP Tour, while Gaston carried the Number 91 designation. By winning in Kitzbühel, Berrettini has received 250 points in the overall rankings. Meanwhile, Gaston has picked up 165 points.
Sebastián Báez of Argentina (No. 18) was the tournament’s reigning champion. This year though, he lost against Gaston in the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, both Berrettini and Gaston entered the main draw with unseeded slots.
Berrettini arrived in the final after winning against Pavel Kotov of Russia (No. 62), second seed Alejandro Tabilo of Chile (No. 21), wildcard Nicolas Moreno de Alboran of the United States (No. 143), and Yannick Hanfmann of Germany (No. 116).
In the other half of the main draw, Gaston defeated Daniel Altmaier of Germany (No. 71), seventh seed Roberto Carballés Baena of Spain (No. 51), top seed Báez, and Facundo Díaz Acosta of Argentina (No. 77).
The revised rankings for the 2024 ATP Tour will be officially released on Monday, July 29. The tour will then play two tournaments between July 27 and August 4: the Summer Olympics in Paris, France and the Washington Open in Washington, D.C. (an ATP 500 event). The Olympics will be played on clay courts while the Washington Open will be contested on hard courts.
Alexander Zverev of Germany (No. 4) is the reigning champion at the Olympics when the event was last held in Tokyo in July 2021. He is looking to win once more as the event’s third seed this year. In the first round, he is scheduled to play against Jaume Munar of Spain (No. 65).
Meanwhile, Daniel Evans of the United Kingdom (No. 59) is the reigning champion at the Washington Open. He has opted against defending the title to instead play at the Olympics this year. In the first round, he will battle Moez Echargui of Tunisia (No. 384). Notably, Berrettini and Gaston won’t be playing anywhere this week.