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Berrettini retires to send Arnaldi into semis

Hip injury stops former top 10 star in second set with Arnaldi ahead 7-5, 5-2

Matteo Berrettini and Matteo Arnaldi, Roland-Garros 2026, quarterfinal
©Jean-Baptiste Autissier / FFT
 - Victoria Chiesa

Over the first week-plus of play in Paris, Matteo Berrettini made no secret of how much he was revelling in his return to Roland-Garros this year after missing the last four editions of the tournament due to a myriad of injuries that have changed the course of his career since he reached the 2021 Wimbledon final.

That's what made the premature ending to his quarterfinal match with countryman Matteo Arnaldi at Roland-Garros on Wednesday all the more unfortunate. 

Trailing Arnaldi 7-5, 5-2, the former Wimbledon finalist was forced to retire with a hip injury, a result that made the 104th-ranked Arnaldi just the second man to win a Roland-Garros quarterfinal by retirement in the Open era. 

Berrettini later clarified that he started to feel something on serve in the first set, but pushed it out of his mind for as long as possible.

"The match was very tough, and I just didn't really think much of it," he said.

"I just kept going and I tried to do my best. It was a really tough task today, but then the more that I was playing, the more I was serving, the more I was hitting forehands, the worse I was feeling."

Even though it was obviously a big stage, I'm the last one that wants to retire

Things started to go sideways for the former Wimbledon finalist shortly after he lost a gruelling 76-minute first set. He started the better of the two Italians, breaking serve twice in the first three games, and led 3-0 at the first change of ends.

But Arnaldi, who had already logged the most hours on-court en route to a major quarterfinal since 1991, got going after that, and won seven of the next nine games to steal the opening set. A nine-deuce eighth game was a highlight, as Berrettini saved five break points to hold, but he couldn’t repeat the feat in the set's final game.

Berrettini later left the court for a medical timeout down 2-1 in the second set, and a love hold seemed to steady him briefly. Though he bravely battled on for three more games, the former world No.6 had nothing left to give, and reluctantly pulled the plug after exactly two hours.

"I guess it's part of the job that I do," he said. "It's an individual sport, so there is no, like, change, you know. I cannot ask for a replacement. It is what it is. I have to take unfortunately the right decision. Even though it was obviously a big stage, 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.”

Arnaldi is the lowest-ranked man to reach the semifinals or better in Paris since Belgian Filip Dewulf got to the final four in 1997 ranked No.122, and just the third man outside the top 100 to do so since 1990.

The 25-year-old has totalled nearly 20 hours on court so far in the tournament and after a day off will face No.10 seeded fellow Italian Flavio Cobolli who he says he's known since they were 11 or 12 years old.

"It's crazy to think I'm in the semifinals," Arnaldi said. "Today I was feeling actually pretty good. I can't complain. I have been playing a lot, but at the same time I'm happy to be on court and to spend time on court, because I miss the playing. I for sure have some energy left for the next matches."