On Sunday, Matteo Berrettini defended his Cinch Championships title, defeating Filip Krajinovic 7-5, 6-4 to win his seventh tour-level title and fourth on grass. The Italian put up an aggressive display in front of a large crowd. He dominated on his forehand with 14 aces and superb footwork, becoming the first player in the Open Era to win the tournament in both of his first two appearances in London.
Since returning to the Tour last week after a three-month layoff due to a hand injury, the second seed has won his previous nine matches and won two trophies. Last week, the 26-year-old outplayed Andy Murray in the BOSS OPEN final in Stuttgart, and he was just as impressive against Serbian Krajinovic in winning the ATP 500 tournament in one hour and 34 minutes.
Berrettini now has a 3-0 lead against the 30-year-old in their ATP Head2Head series, and he has a 32-6 record on grass, having won 20 of his last 21 matches on the surface.
Breaks were traded in the midst of the first set in a tense battle as both players tried to find their serve rhythm. Berrettini took the lead with a brilliantly executed volley, but Krajinovic quickly equalised with a break to make it 3-3. The Italian, on the other hand, seemed unfazed, increasing the ferocity and power of his groundstrokes at the finish of the set to clinch the opener after 54 minutes.
The second seed, buoyed by confidence, continued to assault in the second set. As he drove Krajinovic deep behind the baseline and gained the key break in the fifth game, he won 86 percent (12/14) of his first-serve points before holding his composure on service to claim the title.
Krajinovic had never won a tour-level match on grass before this week, but he put on a show to beat Jenson Brooksby, Sam Querrey, Ryan Peniston, and Marin Cilic on his way to his fifth tour-level final. Following his excellent performance, the Serbian, who was making his debut at The Queen's Club, is now ranked No. 31 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings. His wait for a first tour-level victory continues, however.