PARIS, June 4 (H.S.): Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi secured a place in his first career Grand Slam semi-final at the French Open 2026 after his compatriot Matteo Berrettini was forced to retire due to injury during their quarter-final clash on Wednesday.

At the time of retirement, Arnaldi was leading 7-5, 5-2 when Berrettini decided to withdraw from the match. The latter experienced discomfort in his hip during the early stages of the second set and received medical attention. After consulting his support team during a break, he opted to retire from the contest.

Ranked 104th in the world, Arnaldi has produced a remarkable run at the tournament, spending a total of 17 hours and 42 minutes on court en route to the quarter-finals and beyond.

He will now face fellow Italian Flavio Cobolli in the semi-finals, ensuring that at least one Italian player will feature in the men’s singles final on Sunday.

With world number one and defending finalist Jannik Sinner having exited early, Italian players have enjoyed a strong overall campaign at this year’s tournament.

After the match, Arnaldi described the situation as difficult, noting that both players had endured long matches throughout the tournament, making it challenging to maintain peak performance. He added that no player wishes for a match to end in such a manner.

He further said that Italian tennis is continuing to grow steadily and expressed hope that Berrettini would recover quickly and return strongly for the upcoming grass-court season, where he is expected to perform well.

Arnaldi also acknowledged his own fatigue but said he is striving to give his best effort in every match.

---------------

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar