A Historic Achievement for Italian Tennis at the French Open
Despite the unexpected exit of Jannik Sinner, which dramatically altered the French Open draw, Italian men have made history at Roland Garros. For the first time in the Open Era, three Italian players have reached the quarter-finals of a grand slam. Flavio Cobolli, Matteo Berrettini, and Matteo Arnaldi have demonstrated the strength and depth of Italy’s tennis talent by advancing to the last eight.
There is guaranteed to be at least one Italian semi-finalist, with Berrettini set to face Arnaldi in the quarter-finals on Wednesday. Cobolli, the 10th seed, will take on fourth seed Felix Auger Aliassime for a place in the final four. Auger Aliassime is the highest remaining seed in the top half of the draw, which has been wide open since Sinner’s shock second-round exit.
Matteo Berrettini: A Comeback Story
Berrettini, the former Wimbledon runner-up, is back in the quarter-finals of a grand slam for the first time since 2022. Once a top-10 player, his career was derailed by injuries, and he has not appeared at the French Open in five years. He had to withdraw from the last four editions due to injury.
Now ranked 105th in the world, Berrettini is the lowest-ranked men’s French Open quarter-finalist since 2007. In the fourth round, he recorded a straight-sets win over Jaun Manuel Cerundolo, who had previously knocked out Sinner from two sets down. Sinner struggled with the heat and fatigue during that match.
“It’s the love of my life, if it wasn’t I wouldn’t be here,” Berrettini said after the victory. “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.”
Matteo Arnaldi: An Epic Comeback
Arnaldi, 25, achieved an epic fightback to beat American seed Frances Tiafoe in five sets, 7-6 (7-5) 6-7 (5-7) 3-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-4, reaching the quarter-finals of a grand slam for the first time. Ranked one place above Berrettini at 104th in the world, Arnaldi has spent 17 hours and 42 minutes on court in his four victories so far at Roland Garros, with five hours and 25 minutes of that time against Tiafoe in a match that finished after midnight.
He won one of the points of the tournament to set up match point, scrambling to return several smashes from Tiafoe before the 19th eventually found the net.
Flavio Cobolli: A Smooth Path to the Quarter-Finals
Cobolli, 24, has enjoyed a far smoother path to the quarter-finals. This is his second appearance in a grand slam last eight after pushing Novak Djokovic to four sets at Wimbledon last year. The 10th seed has dropped just one set so far in his four wins, which came against Zachary Svajda in the fourth round.
Cobolli has also been successful on clay, winning two titles and reaching the Munich final this season. He stepped up in Sinner’s absence as Italy retained the Davis Cup last season, including winning the decisive match against Spain’s Jaume Munar from a set and break down. He also saved seven match points to win a 32-point third-set tiebreak against Belgium’s Zizou Bergs in the semi-finals. Berrettini also won all three of his matches as Italy won a third consecutive Davis Cup.
