Matteo Berrettini boasts an impressive record of 10 ATP Tour titles.
An elated Matteo Berrettini expressed that tennis is the “love of my life” after securing a spot in a Grand Slam quarter-final for the first time in nearly four years.
The 30-year-old triumphed over Argentina’s Juan Manuel Cerundolo with a score of 6-3, 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (8-6). He joins two other Italians in the last eight, marking a historic moment in the Open era, despite the early exit of world number one Jannik Sinner in the second round.
Flavio Cobolli, the 10th seed, defeated Zachary Svajda in four sets, while Matteo Arnaldi endured a grueling five-hour match to overcome 19th seed Frances Tiafoe.
Arnaldi, currently ranked 104th in the world, is set to face Berrettini in his inaugural Grand Slam quarter-final, guaranteeing that at least one Italian player – and one player ranked outside the top 100 – will advance to the semi-finals.
Berrettini, a Wimbledon finalist in 2021, reached a career-high ranking of world number six in 2022. However, he has since fallen to 105th in the rankings due to persistent injuries and fitness concerns.
“[Tennis] is the love of my life, if it wasn’t I wouldn’t be here,” Berrettini affirmed.
“After all the setbacks, all the injuries, all the bad moments, I came back once again.”
“There were moments where it was really tough to come back and play, because I wasn’t ready and I wasn’t sure about my confidence – now I feel great.”
Berrettini’s quarter-final appearance marks him as the lowest-ranked Roland Garros quarter-finalist since Igor Andreev in 2007.
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His previous Grand Slam quarter-final appearance was at the 2022 US Open. He has been absent from six of the subsequent 13 major tournaments due to injury.
“Tennis is unpredictable. The field is pretty packed and I’m trying to give my best, I’m focusing on my game and I want to enjoy this win,” Berrettini stated.
Berrettini emerged victorious from the longest match of his career in the preceding round, saving two match points in a five-hour and 16-minute contest, suggesting his injury concerns may be behind him.
The 30-year-old displayed no lingering effects from that performance during his match against Cerundolo, swiftly securing the opening set and prevailing in a second-set tie-break.
Cerundolo threatened a comeback in the third set, breaking for a 3-2 lead, but Berrettini responded, leveling the score at 5-5 and saving three match points before clinching the tie-break.
His next opponent, Arnaldi, has rallied from a 2-1 deficit in the past two rounds to reach his maiden Grand Slam quarter-final.
After breaking American Tiafoe as he served for the match in the fourth set and then breaking to love in the ninth game of the decider, he converted his third match point to complete a remarkable 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (5-7), 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 victory.
“I don’t know how I am standing here,” Arnaldi admitted. “Today in the third set, I was so tired, but we live to play these matches. At one point, it wasn’t tennis, it was something else.”
Felix Auger-Aliassime had never previously progressed beyond the fourth round at Roland Garros.
Felix Auger-Aliassime, a two-time US Open semi-finalist, leveraged his experience to navigate a potentially challenging match against Alejandro Tabilo, winning 6-3, 7-5, 6-1.
In theory, Chile’s Tablio should have been the fresher of the competitors, having spent about six hours less on court last week after being handed a walkover in round two.
Canada’s Auger-Aliassime started strongly, though, breaking at 3-1 before the remainder of the opening set stayed on serve.
Tabilo had never previously gone beyond the third round at a Slam but raised his level in the second.
The 28-year-old, who celebrates his birthday on Tuesday, played aggressively from the baseline and it almost paid dividends as he looked to break for 5-4.
But Auger-Aliassime raised his level to break for a 6-5 lead and served out the set to take full control.
Tabilo wilted in the third and was broken three times as his hopes of a first major quarter-final spot were ended.
“Since I was 12 or 13 it has always been a dream for me to get this far,” Auger-Aliassime said.
“I am a French-speaking guy – I can say I am very, very happy to get your support and I hope I will have your support until the end.”
Fourth seed Auger-Aliassime will face world number 14 Cobolli for a place in the semi-finals after he overcame a spirited Svajda 6-2, 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 7-6 (7-5).
Cobolli looked on course for a routine victory after wrapping up the opening two sets in one hour and 25 minutes – breaking twice in each.
Svajda, 23, finally found some rhythm in the third and came through a tie-break to get a foothold in the match.
Cobolli immediately wrested back control in the fourth, racing into a 4-0 lead, but Svajda – who had never previously gone beyond the second round of a Grand Slam – refused to give up.
The American fought back from 5-1 down, breaking twice and saving match point, to force another tie-break, but Cobolli eventually got over the line to reach just his second Grand Slam quarter-final.
“The only thing that I understood today is that the match is never done,” Cobolli said.
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