Matteo Berrettini has been backed to replicate his success at Wimbledon after reaching the final last year.
The world No. 10 faced Novak Djokovic for the SW19 trophy last year but despite winning the first set via a tie-break, he went on to lose the next three.
The Italian has had an injury-interrupted season and underwent surgery on his hand in March, finally making his return at the Stuttgart Open on Wednesday.
But speaking on Eurosport Germany’s tennis podcast ‘Das Gelbe vom Ball’, former professional player Barbara Rittner claimed Berrettini is still one to look out for at Wimbledon later this month.
She said: “I’m thinking especially of someone like Matteo Berrettini, who was in the final last year.
“It’s impressive how he has returned after a three-month injury break.”
Berrettini’s comeback began with a three-set win over Radu Albot in Stuttgart and will next play in the quarter-finals on Friday.
Rittner also revealed that she could not refrain from including the top seeds in the battle for the Wimbledon title.
“If Rafa plays – he hasn’t completely ruled it out yet – then he’s definitely a candidate,” she said.
After his historic victory at Roland Garros this month taking him to 22 Grand Slam titles, two ahead of Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, it would be impossible not to consider Nadal for Wimbledon glory.
However, he sacrificed himself physically to win the French Open as he fought a chronic foot injury. He was seen heading home on crutches after having treatment on his foot injury on Wednesday.
Nadal spoke to Eurosport after winning at Roland Garros and revealed that his foot “was asleep” and he had “no feeling” during his win over Casper Ruud in Sunday’s final.
He said: “We played with no feeling in the foot, with a [pain-killing] injection on the nerve. The foot was asleep, and that’s why I was able to play.”
If Nadal does not recover from the treatment on his foot in time to compete at Wimbledon next month, Rittner feels that leaves only one player to take home the Grand Slam.
She said: “Novak Djokovic is the player to beat because the Russian players are not in the tournament.”
Djokovic is chasing a seventh Wimbledon title and is the clear favourite given Nadal’s injury, Federer’s withdrawal and the absence of leading Russians Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev.
Wimbledon starts on June 27.
