ATP Tour

Arnaldi advances to Roland Garros SFs after Berrettini retires

Matteo Arnaldi is into his maiden Grand Slam semi-final at Roland Garros. The 25-year-old advanced to the last four at the clay major after his fellow Italian, Matteo Berrettini, retired from the pair’s quarter-final clash with Arnaldi leading 7-5, 5-2.

Berrettini first felt his left hip injury early in the middle of the opening set of Wednesday’s night-session encounter on Court Philippe-Chatrier. The former No. 6 player in the PIF ATP Rankings took an off-court medical timeout at 1-2 in the second set and despite his valiant attempts to continue thereafter, he retired after two hours.

“It’s a tough one,” Arnaldi said in his on-court interview. “We both played a lot, so it’s normal to not be at our best, but you never wish someone to end their tournament like this. He did an amazing tournament. We are all doing such a good job in Italy. I’m sorry for him and I hope he’s going to recover, because soon is going to be the grass and he is going to be very tough to play.”

Earlier, Arnaldi had recovered from a nightmare start in which he dropped his opening two service games to trail 0-3. Yet the No. 104 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, who had spent 17 hours and 42 minutes on court en route to the last eight (the longest match time en route to a major quarter-final) recovered superbly to claim the opening set.

“I’m tired, that’s for sure,” Arnaldi said. “But I train and I play tennis to play these kinds of tournaments and these kinds of matches. So I’m trying to give it all that I’ve got. Obviously today I was a little bit more tired than usual. I wasn’t as fast as I think I was in the first match, but I’m here and I’m enjoying my tennis again. I was injured until not long ago so I’m just happy to be here and trying to give all I have.”

Arnaldi had appeared ready for another marathon scrap after his first-set recovery, but ultimately no such effort was required due to Berrettini’s injury misfortune.

After taking the medical timeout, Berrettini came out and immediately held to love for 2-2 in the second set. But with his movement increasingly hindered, the injury causing him to grimace as he played, and his team signalling for him to stop from the stands, he eventually retired. Berrettini then sat in his chair and took some time letting the reality set in before embracing Arnaldi.

Awaiting Arnaldi in Friday’s semi-final will be his fellow Italian Flavio Cobolli, who earlier rallied past Felix Auger-Aliassime 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to reach his own first major semi-final. The 10th-seeded Cobolli and Arnaldi are 1-1 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series, with Cobolli winning the pair’s most recent clash in the second round at Roland Garros 2025.

“I don’t know [if we will go for dinner on Thursday], but we are going to spend a lot of time together,” Arnaldi said when asked about facing his fellow Italian Cobolli. “It’s normal for us. We always try to train together and stay together around the tennis. It’s going to be a fun one. We played last year, and he won in four. But we played many times before. Hopefully it’s going to be a good match and a good fight.”

Reaching the semi-finals in Paris caps a remarkable turnaround in 2026 for Arnaldi, who began the year with eight defeats in his first 10 matches as he struggled with a foot injury. He returned to winning way by winning the ATP Challenger 175 in Cagliari in early May, and he is currently up 70 spots to No. 34 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings as a result of his Paris run so far.

“Unbelievable, to be honest. I still can’t believe it,” Arnaldi said on reaching his first major semi-final. “If I think where I was a month ago, I was almost No. 150 in the world. Then I played the Challenger in Cagliari and from there I started to feel better and train again like I wanted. Now I’m here. It’s crazy to think, but I always liked this tournament and I always play good. Two years ago I made the fourth round, so I love to play in front of this crowd.”