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Matteo Berrettini says that his time away from the game has allowed him to take stock and get his mind and body ready for action.

He played just 23 matches across the 2023 season, but Berrettini said there was more to his battle with depression than missing out on tennis through injury.

Berrettini hopes to return to action in Australia and enjoy a full season once again.

“There are many, many reasons why I was really sad,” Berrettini told a Davis Cup press conference.

“First of all, obviously because I couldn’t compete, which is the thing that I love to do.

“Then there was another thing that came in. There was that I wasn’t enjoying the process of coming back, that it was, like, kind of like the key before. Unfortunately I had many injuries, but I always found, like, kind of, not the joy, but, you know, the challenge of coming back and feeling kind of like, okay, now I put the work in.

“And I wasn’t feeling that. When I was feeling something on my body, I was really struggling. I went down. Mentally I wasn’t ready to face the challenge.

“Then many things happen, and I think it was just really important for me to stop and, you know, like, think a little bit and take my time. Because the body and the mind, they go together.

“Yeah, hopefully I’m going to start in Australia. That’s the goal, to play as many matches as possible next year (smiling).

“I’m working hard right now to get ready. I love to play in Australia. I had great memories there, and it’s a swing that I always really like to go there and play there.

“Yeah, that’s the goal, and I think it’s doable. So I’m working hard for that.”

Berrettini says that he has always felt supported even if being a top professional has also earned him his fair share of haters.

“The support, it’s always been there, especially from the people that, you know, that cares about me and they were with me and they’re with me,” He added.

“They’re going to be with me until the very last point that I’m going to play, my family, my close ones.

“It’s kind of normal, I think, in today’s world that when you become someone you get love and you get some hate, as well (smiling). At the beginning I couldn’t really, you know, understand why a tennis player could get so much, you know, like, I don’t know, like bad comments or bad press or bad whatever, just to do what he loves to do in the way that he thinks is the best. So I was really a little bit surprised.

“But then I really focused myself on thinking about what I like to do. I know who I am, I know what I achieved in my career, I know what I want to do, I know what makes me happy. So that’s the goal right now.

“I have to say I feel a lot of support from a lot of people, texting me many messages and they call me a lot. It’s always been there and it’s great, actually.”

READ MORE: Matteo Berrettini’s girlfriend hosts Ryder Cup opening ceremony

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