GSTAAD: Matteo Berrettini put the brakes on Dominic Thiem’s impressive return to the courts on Saturday crushing him 6-1, 6-4 in the semi-finals here.

The Italian world number 15, playing his first tournament since having to withdraw from Wimbledon with Covid, made short work of the 2020 US Open champion, putting him away in just 77 minutes.

It has still been a good week for the Austrian who has slipped to 274 in the ATP rankings after a year of setbacks, including a wrist injury, depression and Covid. This was his first semi-final in 14 months.

Berrettini goes forward to his eleventh career final and is bidding for a third straight title after wins on the grass at Queen’s and in Stuttgart.

In Sunday’s final, he will meet either the French Open finalist and defending champion on the Gstaad clay, Casper Ruud, or the world number 40 Albert Ramos-Vinolas who meet in the second semi later on Saturday.

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