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German Alexander Zverev, who defeated claycourt
specialists Rafa Nadal and Dominic Thiem en route to the final,
lost his only set at this year's tournament to the 25-year-old
before rallying for a 6-7(8) 6-4 6-3 win.
The defeat ended the hard-hitting Italian's eight-match winning
streak on clay after he won the ATP 250 event in Belgrade last
month.
"I really worked hard to be here. Now that I'm here, I'm upset I
lost," the world number nine told reporters. "It's important for
my tennis, for my level. Sascha won, not easily, but in two sets
against Thiem and Rafa, and today (he) was struggling against
me.
"This is definitely a good feeling and something that I have to
use, to build (on) in my next tournaments. It hurts now, but I
know this loss is going to be useful."
Berrettini said he had his chances against world number six
Zverev and he was brimming with confidence going into this
week's ATP Masters event in Rome and the French Open starting at
the end of the month.
"I know and I feel that I can play this kind of tennis, this
kind of level. I deserve to be here," he said.
"When I play and I use my weapons in the right way, all the
players are struggling. This is something that makes me
confident for the future.
"Once I'm healthy, I can reach my level, my best level. I think
this week just showed that I can play this level. This was my
first final. Hopefully it's not going to be my last."
(Reporting by Sudipto Ganguly in Mumbai; editing by Peter
Rutherford)
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