Berrettini tired of retiring as injury strikes again to end French Open hopes

Matteo Berrettini said he is "tired of retiring" from matches as injury ended his hopes of a maiden Grand Slam title at the French Open.

The 30-year-old had lost the first set of his quarter-final to fellow Italian Matteo Arnaldi and trailed 5-2 in the second when a hip problem forced him to end the contest early.

He had already spent time off court for a medical timeout early in the second set and, having pulled up sharply chasing a ball in what proved to be the final game of the match, sat disconsolate in his chair with a rueful look on his face for several seconds before embracing his opponent at the net.

Berrettini lost to Novak Djokovic in the 2021 Wimbledon final but his career since then has been plagued by numerous injury setbacks - a huge factor in him being yet to add to that sole appearance in a Grand Slam showpiece.

"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," said Berrettini.

"I didn't want the tournament to end like this."

Berrettini's only previous retirement from a Grand Slam match was at the 2023 US Open.

He also made an early exit from the 2021 ATP Tour Finals because of an abdominal injury, while last season he had to pull out midway through matches in Madrid and Rome in the run-up to the French Open.

But the former world number six, who had missed the previous four French Opens because of injury problems, is determined to take the positives from reaching a seventh Grand Slam quarter-final in his first outing at Roland Garros since 2021.

Now ranked 105th, he added: "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.

"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."

Speaking on court after his win, Arnaldi 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 in the world, is the lowest-ranked male player to reach a French Open singles semi-final since Filip Dewulf did so in 1997 when ranked 122nd.

He will play another Italian, 10th seed Flavio Cobolli, on Friday for a place in Sunday's final.

Arnaldi, 25, had spent the most amount of time on court by a player en route to reaching a Grand Slam men's quarter-final since such a metric started being recorded in 1991.

Taking into account his quarter-final, he has spent close to 20 hours on court across his five matches.

"Today I was feeling actually pretty good," said Arnaldi, when asked about his physical condition, adding: "I for sure have some energy left for the next matches."