The girlfriend of Matteo Berrettini will be performing extra special duties back home in Rome at the Ryder Cup. Television sports broadcaster Melissa Satta has been commissioned to host the official opening ceremony of the tournament as Italy prepares to host the biannual team matchplay event for the first time in its history.
The 37-year-old Sky Sports Italy presenter, who previously worked for MTV as a fashion model, will kick off proceedings at the Marco Simone Golf & Country Club on Thursday, September 28, with the golfing action getting underway the following day.
Satta recently shared news of her appointment via social media whilst she was supporting Berrettini at the US Open in New York. Posting a clip of her studying on Instagram, she wrote: “I study for the @therydercup at the @usopen.”
The glamorous presenter, who was born in the USA to Sardinian parents, has expressed her pride at being chosen to open the Ryder Cup in Italy.
As per sportskeeda, she said: “I think it is going to be amazing to host the Ryder Cup opening ceremony.
“When I had the call, I couldn’t believe it was actually going to be me. To have people from all over Europe and America coming to Rome is going to be very special, all there having fun enjoying sport together.”
Satta first met Berrettini in Miami at a dinner with mutual friends. They swapped telephone numbers and stayed in touch. The former Sports Illustrated model was at Wimbledon this year to see her boyfriend reach the fourth round before he crashed out against eventual winner Carlos Alcaraz.
But Satta is no stranger to a relationship with a high-profile sportsman. Between 2006 and 2011 she was in a relationship with former Italian striker Christian Vieri.
In 2011 Satta began a relationship with former Tottenham Hotspur star Kevin-Prince Boateng, with whom she had a child called Maddox Prince. They married in 2016 but divorced in 2020.
Berrettini, 27, is ranked 66th in the world but has not won any titles on tour this season.
It is not clear who Satta will be supporting at the Ryder Cup having been born in the United States but to European parents. But as she is opening the event on Italian soil she will very much be expected to be rooting for the blue team.
