A VERY relieved Matteo Berrettini writes ‘Imodium grazie!’ on the camera lens after his gruelling Australian Open first-round win – after stomach issues forced the Italian to take THREE emergency toilet breaks
- Matteo Berrettini beat Brandon Nakashima in four sets 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3
- The three-hour 10-minute clash also saw Berrettini battle stomach issues
- The 25-year-old Italian will now face wild card Stefan Kozlov in the second round
Matteo Berrettini wasn’t his usual free-flowing self during his first-round Australian Open win and the Italian took an amusing way to reveal why.
Berrettini looked out of sorts at the beginning of his clash with American Brandon Nakashima losing the first 6-4 against the American.
He battled back to win the following the three sets 6-2, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 as he overcame the inspired 20-year-old.
Matteo Berrettini asked for Imodium after his Australian Open first-round win on Monday
He wrote his request on the camera lens after overcoming stomach issues during the match
He was forced to the toilet three times during his first-round win over Brandon Nakashima
The 25-year-old was forced to take a medical timeout in the second set for his stomach issues
But it wasn’t just his opponent that the seventh seed had to get by – he fought stomach issues throughout his three-hour and 10-minute victory.
Berrettini had to take a medical timeout in set two, as well as a bathroom break following set three and again during a changeover early in the fourth.
And as he left the court, the 25-year-old wrote on the camera lens what he needed post match: ‘Imodium, grazie!’.
‘I’ve been feeling sick with my stomach, let’s say that,’ Berrettini said in his on-court interview. ‘But that battling hold in the 10th game of set three gave him the belief to power through.
‘It was really important. I was feeling the match was changing a little bit there,’ he said of the eight-point service game. ‘I really held there with my mental strength mostly, because my body wasn’t there.’
He will face wild card Stefan Kozlov in the second round, after the American beat Jiri Vesely, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4.
The seventh seed lost the first set but won the following three and will face Stefan Kozlov next