Matteo Berrettini advanced to the French Open quarter-finals on June 1 by defeating Juan Manuel Cerundolo 6-3, 7-6(2), 7-6(6) at Roland Garros, marking his return to the second week of the tournament after a five-year absence due to injury [1, 2].
Berrettini’s path to the last eight included a dramatic comeback against Francisco Comesana in the third round on May 30. He won a grueling five-hour, five-set match 7-6(3), 5-7, 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(15-13), saving two match points and three set points along the way [3, 1, 2].
Ranked 105th in the world upon arrival at Roland Garros, Berrettini became the lowest-ranked men's quarter-finalist at the French Open since 2007 [1, 2]. The victory ended years of fitness struggles and self-doubt for the Italian. Reflecting on his comeback, Berrettini said, "I doubted about myself a little bit too much... I thought that I couldn't come back, I couldn't feel good on court again. That's why I was emotional, because I proved to myself one more time that I can do this" [3].
He added after his quarter-final clincher, "I'm in the fourth round, second week of Paris, means that I can go deep. I'm playing well. Today was, I think, a high-level match. My weapons are working, physically I'm there, and fingers crossed" [4].
Berrettini was returning to the French Open for the first time in five years, having missed the previous four editions due to injury [1, 2].
His quarter-final opponent, 21-year-old Juan Manuel Cerundolo, spent more than 12 hours on court to reach the fourth round for the first time in his career [1, 2]. Cerundolo also made headlines with a second-round win over world number one Jannik Sinner, coming back from two sets down [3, 1, 4, 2]. Before losing to Berrettini, Cerundolo won a nearly six-hour match against Martin Landaluce, the third-longest in Roland Garros history [1, 2].
Berrettini’s next match at Roland Garros will decide whether he advances to the semi-finals. The tournament continues through late June.
