Matteo Berrettini pulled up sharply chasing a ball late in his French Open quarter-final Wednesday, sat in his chair for several seconds, then walked to the net to end the match.
The retirement came with Berrettini trailing fellow Italian Matteo Arnaldi one set to none and 5-2 in the second. A hip problem forced him off the court, according to BBC Sport, his second retirement from a Grand Slam match after a similar exit at the 2023 US Open.
"It was really hard [to retire] because I thought that wasn't the right thing, mostly because I have done it many times and I'm tired of retiring," Berrettini said.
"I didn't want the tournament to end like this."
The 30-year-old had already taken a medical timeout early in the second set before the hip gave way completely in what proved to be the final game. His career since reaching the 2021 Wimbledon final against Novak Djokovic has been defined by repeated injury interruptions. He missed the previous four French Opens entirely due to injury and arrived at this year's Roland Garros ranked 105th in the world.
That context made his run to the quarter-finals significant on its own. He acknowledged the tension between disappointment and perspective.
"I have to take the good stuff that I did in this tournament, because a few weeks ago or a few days ago, it would have been crazy to think about me in the quarter-finals, and so I'll try to go back home with a smile on my face," he said. "It's going to be tough but 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."
Arnaldi was generous in victory. Speaking on court after the match, he said, "You never wish for someone to end the tournament like this. He did an amazing tournament. I am sorry for him and I hope he recovers because soon it is the grass and he is going to be very tough to play."
Arnaldi, ranked 104th, is now the lowest-ranked male player to reach a French Open singles semi-final since Filip Dewulf accomplished it in 1997 ranked 122nd. The 25-year-old will face 10th seed Flavio Cobolli, also Italian, on Friday for a place in Sunday's final. It will be an all-Italian semi-final at Roland Garros.
Berrettini heads home without a Grand Slam title, the only major final of his career still the 2021 Wimbledon loss.
