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Matteo Arnaldi reached his maiden Grand Slam semi-final at Roland Garros after compatriot Matteo Berrettini retired from their quarter-final clash.
The 25-year-old was leading 7-5, 5-2 when Berrettini was forced to withdraw due to a left hip injury sustained early in the match on Court Philippe-Chatrier. Matteo Arnaldi recovered from a nightmare start, dropping his opening two service games to fall 0-3 behind. The world No. 104, who had spent 17 hours and 42 minutes on court en route to the quarter-finals, the longest match time recorded before reaching a Grand Slam last-eight, responded strongly to take the opening set. Arnaldi looked set for another marathon battle after his first-set recovery, but the match ended early due to injury to Berrettini. After taking a medical timeout, Berrettini returned to hold serve to love for 2-2 in the second set. However, his movement became increasingly restricted, and he was visibly struggling, with his team urging him to stop from the stands before he eventually retired. Berrettini then sat in his chair for several moments before embracing Arnaldi in an emotional moment. Awaiting Arnaldi in Friday's semi-final will be his fellow Italian Flavio Cobolli, who earlier rallied past Felix Auger-Aliassime 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to reach his own first major semi-final. "It's a tough one. We both played a lot, so it's normal not to be at our best, but you never wish someone to end their tournament like this. He did an amazing tournament. We are all doing such a good job in Italy. I'm sorry for him, and I hope he's going to recover, because soon it's going to be the grass and he is going to be very tough to play," Arnaldi said as per the ATP Tour website. (ANI)
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