Matteo Berrettini beats Arthur Fils in Wimbledon return

Matteo Berrettini declared his return to form after overcoming 20th seed Arthur Fils 6-4 7-6 3-6 6-3 on Wimbledon’s Centre Court on Thursday.

The former finalist outlasted the talented young Frenchman in a fierce big-serving contest on the grandest stage.

Securing the victory with a delicate drop volley on his third match point, the Italian roared with relief towards his team.

During his on-court interview, a smiling Berrettini simply stated: “I’m back.”

Injury nightmares in the rearview mirror

It has been a long and arduous road to recovery for the powerful baseliner.

He previously withdrew from a French Open quarter-final and has struggled with a persistent hip issue.

Those physical setbacks sparked fears that his grass-court campaign was over before it had even begun.

However, navigating two difficult four-set matches has provided significant momentum for the 2021 runner-up.

“For a long time I was just thinking about ‘I want to be healthy, I want to feel free to serve, I don’t want to think about my body’,” he admitted.

The Roman-born star explained that true happiness on the court comes from trusting his physical conditioning again.

“I learned how to accept the fact that sometimes I have to stop, sometimes I have to say no, I can’t do it.”

He added that finding stability and avoiding severe emotional highs and lows has been crucial to his recent resurgence.

The gripping encounter against Fils proved to be a contest of incredibly fine margins.

Only two points separated the pair in the opening set, before the experienced grass-court specialist eventually stretched away in the fourth.

Berrettini will now face another crowd favourite in former semi-finalist Grigor Dimitrov.

The Bulgarian veteran booked his place in the next stage by defeating 15th seed Jakub Mensik earlier on Thursday.