Sports News | SPO-TENNIS-LD QUEEN'S Defending Champ Berrettini into Semifinals at Queen's Club

London, Jun 17 (AP) Matteo Berrettini is back into the Queen's Club semifinals and still hasn't lost since his return to competitive play after three months out with a hand injury.

The second-seeded Italian beat Tommy Paul 6-4, 6-2 on Friday and will play Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands for a place in the final at the grass-court tournament.

Also Read | Sadio Mane Transfer News: Liverpool Reach Agreement With Bayern Munich Over Senegalese Star's Move.

Berrettini's first tournament back after injury was last week on grass in Stuttgart, where he beat Andy Murray in the final on Sunday.

He is the man to beat this week, too, in his defense of the title at the Wimbledon warmup event. Berrettini won the 2021 tournament at Queen's — only losing one set all week — and followed that up by reaching the Wimbledon final, losing to Novak Djokovic after taking the first set.

Also Read | T20 Blast Live Streaming Online on FanCode: Get Free Telecast Details Of Vitality Blast 2022 On TV In India.

Having struggled against lucky loser Denis Kudla in a second-round match that went three sets, Berrettini was back to something close to his best against an opponent in Paul who had defeated sixth-seeded Denis Shapovalov and Stan Wawrinka to get to the quarterfinals.

Berrettini sealed victory with an ace down the middle and relied on his big serve, winning 82% of points on his first serve.

Van de Zandschulp, who is unseeded and ranked No. 29, beat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain 6-2, 6-4. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)