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Matteo Berrettini battles to milestone 200th win of career with victory over Giron in Madrid

He’s just the second Italian man born in 1990 or later to hit that number, after the current world No. 1, Jannik Sinner.

By John Berkok
MATCH POINT: Matteo Berrettini stuns Alexander Zverev in Monte Carlo second round0:58

It’s been a strong start to the season for Matteo Berrettini, already reaching three quarterfinals—at back-to-back ATP 500s in Doha and Dubai and at the Masters 1000 event in Miami.

He’s already had two Top 10 wins, too, beating Novak Djokovic for the first time in Doha then Alexander Zverev in Monte Carlo, which happened to be his first career win over a Top 2 player.

And in Madrid on Saturday, the hits kept coming.

Berrettini battled to the milestone 200th win of his career with a 6-7 (3), 7-6 (6), 6-1 victory over American Marcos Giron in his opening match at the Masters 1000 clay-court event.

He’s just the eighth Italian man in the Open Era to reach 200 career wins, and of that group he has the second-best winning percentage, at .654 (200-106). Only Jannik Sinner has a better winning percentage among them, at .771 (270-80).

Berrettini and Sinner are also the only two Italian men born in 1990 or later to reach 200 career wins—they were born in 1996 and 2001.

ITALIAN MEN WITH 200+ WINS IN OPEN ERA (tour-level):

  • 426: Fabio Fognini [426-392]
  • 395: Adriano Panatta [395-247]
  • 386: Andreas Seppi [386-422]
  • 320: Corrado Barazzutti [320-231]
  • 270: Jannik Sinner [270-80]
  • 223: Renzo Furlan [223-239]
  • 219: Andrea Gaudenzi [219-231]
  • 200: Matteo Berrettini [200-106]
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 16: Matteo Berrettini of Italy celebrates winning the second set in the Men's Singles Second Round match against Holger Rune of Denmark during day five of the 2025 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 16, 2025 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)
© 2025 Getty Images

Berrettini's milestone win almost didn't happen, though.

Giron had won the pair's only two previous meetings, at Paris in 2020 and Halle in 2024, and he was on the verge of making it three in a row Saturday, as he was two points away from winning three separate times in the second set—twice with Berrettini serving 5-6, at 30-all and deuce, and then again at 6-all in the tie-break.

But the Italian snuck out the second set then rolled through the decider, opening up a 5-0 lead and serving it out two games later.

He finished the match with 47 winners—including 28 off the forehand, as well as 14 aces—to just 27 unforced errors.

Awaiting the No. 30 seed in the third round will be No. 5 seed Jack Draper, a 6-3, 6-4 winner over Tallon Griekspoor.

Draper has beaten Berrettini in both of their previous meetings, coming back from a set down both times, in the final of Stuttgart last year on grass (3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4) and in the quarterfinals of Doha earlier this year on hard courts (4-6, 6-4, 6-3).