Matija Pecotic is making the headlines this week but probably not many know that he once defeated Matteo Berrettini in a Futures final.
In 2015 September, Pecotic edged out Berrettini 6-7 (6) 7-6 (4) 6-2 in a Futures final in Turkey.
Fast forward eight years later, Berrettini is a Grand Slam finalist and has been ranked at No 6 in the world.
On the other side, Pecotic made his ATP main draw debut this week at the age of 33.
After entering the Delray Beach Open qualifying event as an alternate and winning two qualifying matches, Pecotic upset former top-10 player Jack Sock 4-6 6-2 6-2 for his first ATP main draw win.
Pecotic is a part-time tennis player as he currently runs a real estate investment firm in Palm Beach, Florida.
Pecotic upset Sock for his first ATP main draw win
In the Delray Beach first round, Pecotic recovered from a slow start to beat Sock in three sets.
After the match, Pecotic admitted he didn’t enter the match expecting to win but also didn’t think he would easily lose.
“I certainly didn’t expect to win, but certainly didn’t come into the match thinking that I’m definitely going to lose. You’ve got to be realistic. This is a former Top 10 guy with an incredible amount of tennis experience, with a huge serve. He came out serving 134 [mph] on the first serve. It would be arrogant to think that I’m going to come out and expect to win. But I certainly figured if I could sink my teeth into the match and work on the two or three patterns that I prepared before, that I’m going to have a chance. And then let’s see, if I was going to fall under pressure or not be able to serve it out at some point. But I didn’t and I got the win,” Pecotic said after clinching his first ATP win, per the ATP website.