Matteo Berrettini's campaign at Roland Garros ended in disappointment as the Italian was forced to retire midway through his quarter-final match due to a hip injury. Berrettini, who was playing his first major quarter-final since the 2022 US Open, retired while trailing 7-5, 5-2 against fellow countryman Matteo Arnaldi.
The Italian admitted it is the worst feeling ever but acknowledged that retiring was the right decision, as this is not the last tournament of his career. "I'm the last one that wants to retire. I'm so tired of it. I just don't want to do it, but sometimes you have to do it," Berrettini said, as quoted by the ATP Tour. "A lot of players have done it in the past, and it's the worst feeling ever, but it's the right thing to do, because it's not the last tournament I'm going to play in my life, and I have to think about my future. I have to think about my recovery."
The former Wimbledon finalist started the match brightly, racing to a 3-0 lead against Arnaldi. It appeared that Berrettini was on track for an even deeper run in his first Roland Garros appearance since 2021. However, due to the injury, he was unable to move well enough to compete. Shortly after losing a grueling 76-minute first set, Berrettini left the court for a medical timeout down 2-1 in the second set. Three games later, he retired from the match as he could not remedy the injury.
"Hopefully it's nothing too bad. I'm obviously disappointed, but I think if I kept playing, I would have done way worse and probably the recovery time would have been longer. Unfortunately, I didn't have any other choice than retire," Berrettini said.
The former world No. 6 began the tournament at world No. 105 and is now No. 48 in the ATP Live Rankings. Berrettini showed signs of the attacking tennis that once propelled him into the top 10. "It's going to be tough, but that's the mentality that I like to — that's how I like to approach these two weeks. And of course I'm disappointed; I'm sad, but I'm also proud of the way I fought through this tournament," the Italian added.
Arnaldi, ranked 104th in the world, is the lowest-ranked male player to reach a French Open singles semifinal since Filip Dewulf did so in 1997 when ranked 122nd. The Italian, who has spent the most time on court among players in his run to the semifinals in Paris, will now face another countryman, 10th seed Flavio Cobboli, for a place in a maiden Grand Slam final.
