Matteo Berrettini Reveals Reasons Behind his Emotions After Reaching Roland Garros Fourth Round

Matteo Berrettini earned a memorable third-round win at Roland Garros, one that gave him a boost of confidence after having struggled with injuries for the last two years. The Italian star was nearly in tears after outlasting Argentina’s star Francisco Comesana in a five-set thriller at the French Open.

Berrettini has been one of his country’s top players over the past few years. He finished as runner-up at the 2021 Wimbledon Championships and has been ranked as high as World No. 6, and has won 10 ATP Tour-level titles during his career. However, things haven’t gone as planned for the 30-year-old, who has spent weeks on the sidelines with various injury setbacks.

His return to the 2026 French Open draw marks the first time he’s played at the event since 2021. He had surgery on his hand in 2022 and struggled with fitness issues over the next three years, resulting in him missing the Grand Slam. At the start of this season, he had to deal with an abdominal injury. However, he found a way to maintain his fitness levels during this clay-court season.

Berrettini won the first set against Comesana, but was broken in the second set and then lost the third in a tiebreak. In the fourth set, he was employing a big-serving technique to overcome the Argentine star, ultimately winning 7-6(3), 5-7, 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(13).

The tie could have ended in favor of Comesana as he led 9-8 and 13-12 in the tiebreak before Berrettini hit hard to win the match. The victory now sees Berrettini reach the second week of the French Open for the first time since 2021. Speaking after the contest, the Italian star opened up on the reason why he was almost emotional after beating Comesana after five hours and 13 minutes:

So many things. But maybe the best one was the fact that I doubt about myself a little too much I think in the last months and years. Even though I had unbelievable support from my family and friends and my team, and everybody kept telling me that I still had it in me. I have to confess that I thought I couldn’t come back. I thought 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.

With Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner out of the French Open, Berrettini, Alexander Zverev and Casper Ruud are the only players who have reached the final of a Grand Slam in the draw. The three players have experience playing in big tournaments and will hope to use it to finally win a major title.

Matteo Berrettini opens up on how his critics have always underestimated him on tour

Before heading into the clay court season, there were not many expectations for Matteo Berrettini. But there were a few signs that the Italian star was heading in the right direction in terms of performance on the court. He defeated Daniil Medvedev 6-0, 6-0 in the first round of the Monte Carlo Masters and then reached the quarter-finals of the ATP Challenger in Cagliari.

He has defied the odds at the French Open. For a player ranked outside the Top 100, with not much confidence, he has to be immensely proud of himself at Roland Garros. During the aforementioned press conference, he revealed that he has always been underestimated throughout his time playing tennis:

People already had doubts about me when I was playing in the Under-12s: they’d look at me and say, “This kid weighs 20 kilos.” I had the worst physical test results in Tirrenia history; no one would have bet a single euro on me, so I’m pretty used to that kind of outside judgment. The internal struggle was harder to manage because I never stopped believing in my tennis, but there were moments when I didn’t have much faith in my body.

Berrettini will face Juan Manuel Cerundolo in the fourth round of the French Open. Cerundolo stunned Jannik Sinner in the second round and also endured a five-set marathon against Martin Landaluce in the third round, which lasted for nearly six hours. It will be the first meeting between Cerundolo and Berrettini on tour.

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