Matteo Berrettini has endured numerous injury setbacks throughout his career, but the latest one he has suffered at the French Open is new territory.
Berrettini, who has been ranked as high as sixth in the world, was forced to retire when down 5-7, 2-5, to Matteo Arnaldi in the quarter-finals at Roland Garros on Wednesday evening. A bitter ending for the Italian, who was making his return to the Grand Slam after a five-year hiatus due to a series of physical issues.
Alarm bells started to go off during the closing stages of the 77-minute opening set when Berrettini showed signs of discomfort before serving. Then, in the second set, he left the court for medical treatment. When he returned, the 30-year-old clearly struggled with his movement and was forced to call it a day.
“In the middle of the first set, I started to feel something when I was serving,” Berrettini explained.
“I didn’t really think much of it. I just kept going, and I tried to do my best.
“But then the more that I was playing, the more I was serving, the more I was hitting forehands, the worse I was feeling.
“I took the medical timeout, and they told me that the area was really sore and really painful.”
A former finalist at Wimbledon, Berrettini’s career has been blighted by injury woes. During 2023, he suffered an oblique tear before hurting his ankle at the US Open that same year. A foot injury sidelined him for the first major event of 2024 before he suffered more oblique problems last season. Earlier this year, he was dealing with an abdominal strain, as well as illness.
Despite his string of issues, Berrettini describes the latest as something he has never felt before. The pain is concentrated around his hip area, and he will undergo medical tests to establish what the issue is.
“It’s definitely the hip. I don’t know exactly what it is,” he said.
“Hopefully the scans are going to be clear and they can tell me what I have.
“I never had anything like that. I struggled with my right hip at the end of 2019, beginning of 2020, but it was a different kind of pain.”
This uncertainty casts doubt on Berrettini’s Wimbledon hopes, with the tournament starting on June 29th. At the start of the French Open, he was just outside the list of direct entrants for the grasscourt major.
When asked if his hip issue could result in him missing more of the Tour, Berrettini said he hopes his retirement in Paris has saved his season.
“I wish I knew. If it had been my abs, I would have told you exactly how long and how many days it would take,” he said when speaking in Italian to the media.
“But I’m not familiar with this area; the pain is intense, and I don’t know how long I’ll be sidelined—I’ll let the doctors decide.
“When I had to choose whether to continue or not, the thought in my mind was not to be sidelined for three months. I hope I stopped in time; it wasn’t just a niggle—I would have played through it if I’d been dealing with discomfort since the start of the tournament, but I don’t play through pain. I felt in rhythm, with good vibes on the court. Let’s hope we see each other again at Wimbledon.”
Berrettini has missed eight out of 18 Grand Slam tournaments since reaching the 2021 Wimbledon final due to injury or illness. On top of that, his campaigns at the 2023 US Open and now this year’s French Open were ended due to injury-related retirements.
