Matteo Berrettini has risen to stardom this year and takes on Andy Murray in the China Open this morning.
However, it is not the first time the Italian has stood across the court from a Grand Slam winner.
The 23-year-old first got the taste of the highest level after receiving an invite from Federer.
Reflecting on first meeting the Swiss star ahead of the 2013 French Open, Berrettini said: “In the beginning I had scheduled a day off.
“Then Vincenzo (Santopadre, my coach) called me and asked if I would have liked hit with Federer.
“I thought it was a joke. Then when I saw Roger, at start I was nervous, my arm was shaking.”
Berrettini put together a stunning run at the US Open last month where he reached the semi-finals, losing to eventual champion Rafael Nadal.
And he was surprised to have gotten so deep in the event given his recent injury woes.
He added: “I was coming back from an ankle injury that I suffered in a training sessions.
“I had to do a lot of rehabilitation with my two fitness trainers.
“In Montreal I did not feel comfortable to play, in Cincinnati I was not doing too well.
“My first matches in New York were not easy. I defeated Richard Gasquet, Jordan Thompson and Alexei Popyrin, but I did not feel at my best.
“Everything changed from the match against Andrey Rublev. I knew he was a player who likes hitting very powerful so I had to hit slices and drops.
“That was the match where I understood I could have been able to do a lot in the tournament.
“Against [Gael] Monfils instead it was a lot of emotions. On the first match point I hit a strange double fault, my hand was shaking.
“I laughed to myself and I was like, It’s normal. You are serving to reach a Grand Slam semi-final.
“Then when I won, it was even more beautiful, even if many people told me I made them suffer too much.”
