Post by : Bianca
Haleem
Matteo Arnaldi made headlines by reaching his inaugural Grand Slam semi-final after fellow Italian Matteo Berrettini was unable to continue their match at the French Open on Wednesday. Berrettini retired with a scoreline of 7-5, 5-2 due to an injury.
This contest between the Italians ended prematurely when Berrettini seemed to experience hip issues. Despite taking a medical timeout at the start of the second set, he wasn’t able to proceed. Following some deliberation with his team during a break, he opted to withdraw from the match.
World No. 104 Arnaldi has been on an impressive journey at Roland Garros, having spent 17 hours and 42 minutes on the court prior to this quarter-final. He had already clocked in over 10 hours in his last two encounters. Despite the toll it took on him, he managed to navigate through yet another challenging match to secure a spot in the semi-finals.
In the semi-finals, Arnaldi will go head-to-head against compatriot Flavio Cobolli on Friday. This match guarantees that there will be an Italian finalist at this year's French Open, despite the earlier exit of world No. 1 and last year’s runner-up Jannik Sinner.
After the match, Arnaldi expressed his concern for Berrettini's injury.
"It’s unfortunate. We’ve both been competing hard, so it’s understandable not to be at peak performance. It’s never pleasant to see someone’s journey cut short in this way," Arnaldi remarked.
He also complimented the resilience of Italian tennis and wished Berrettini a swift recovery as the grass-court season approaches.
Despite showing signs of fatigue from a series of grueling matches, Arnaldi stated his determination to give his all in the tournament, marking the biggest semi-final of his career as he inches closer to a potential historic final at Roland Garros.
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