Matteo Berrettini’s Racquet – Player Profile

Updated 1 June 2026
Matteo Berrettini is often called the “Hammer” thanks to his big serve and forehand combo. But what is Matteo Berrettini’s racquet?

Berrettini’s tennis racquet

Berrettini’s racquet looks like a HEAD Extreme MP, but most pros play with pro-stock racquets painted like the latest retail model.

Berrettini actually uses a HEAD Extreme pro stock and according to a Tennisnerd reader and Italian tennis forums (grazie mille!), he uses the TGT 285.2 (HEAD IG Extreme Pro) with silicone and lead tape added, to make it 326 grams with a balance of 32.6 cm (unstrung). This should create quite a hefty swing weight, around 350 or just below.

Matteo strings his racquet with Signum Pro Firestorm at 23 kg or 51 lbs (which might change slightly depending on the conditions). It does sound like a very powerful setup for a pro player, but the string is very stiff and control-oriented and the pros can control the ball thanks to fast swings and lots of top spin.

Berrettini’s Style

Berrettini plays pretty much like his racquet and physique suggests, with BIG power. He can absolutely murder the ball on both the backhand and the forehand wing, and has a huge serve. His issue is that he tends to overhit when the tempo increases. Partly because it is not easy to move fast when you are 1.96 m (6′.5″) and 95 kg (209 lbs) and also because his style is based on power and spin, which requires a longer swing. Still, he has won four titles on grass!

The Serve

Berrettini’s serve is his major weapon because it does so much damage. It’s the same reason he’s so good on grass. It’s just a huge advantage that makes him dominate, thanks to his high in percentage and frequent aces/unreturnable serves. If he doesn’t win on the serve, more often than not it sets up a short ball that he can put away.

The Forehand and Backhand

Any shorter ball will be heavily punished by his forehand, which is one of the best forehands in the world. The backhand isn’t as good, but Berrettini somehow makes it work.

He has a really nice backhand slice that does wonders on grass, but it’s also serviceable on hard courts.

Short bio and career

Berrettini’s ascent up the tennis rankings was meteoric. He captured his first ATP singles title in Gstaad in 2018 and truly broke into the global elite during the 2019 season, where he made a thrilling run to the US Open semifinals and became the first Italian man to win a singles match at the Nitto ATP Finals.

His historic breakthrough came at the 2021 Wimbledon, where he became the first-ever Italian men’s singles finalist, putting on a spectacular performance before finishing as runner-up to Novak Djokovic. Following a semifinal run at the 2022 Australian Open, Berrettini reached a career-high world ranking of No. 6. He also holds a rare distinction in Italian tennis history as the first man from his country to reach the quarterfinals or better at all four Grand Slam tournaments.

In team competitions, Berrettini played a crucial, undefeated role in helping Italy secure back-to-back Davis Cup titles in 2024 and 2025.

While his career has recently been challenged by persistent injuries, forcing him to battle through periods of recovery, Berrettini remains a formidable opponent on any surface, especially grass, where he is a two-time Queen’s Club champion. With 10 ATP singles titles to his name, he’s still a force on the tour, if he can avoid more injuries.