All-Italian Clash at French Open: Berrettini Retires Injured, Arnaldi Reaches First Grand Slam Semifinal

(Paris, 3rd, Combined Reports) World No. 104 tennis player Matteo Arnaldi reached his first Grand Slam semifinal on Tuesday at the French Open after his opponent, Matteo Berrettini, retired due to injury in an all-Italian quarterfinal clash. According to Reuters, Arnaldi won the first set 7-5. After three games in the second set, Berrettini appeared to be in hip pain and called for a medical timeout. During the changeover, he followed his team's advice and retired, with the score at 5-2. Arnaldi had spent a total of 17 hours and 42 minutes on court to reach the quarterfinals. He will face another Italian, Flavio Cobolli, on Thursday. This means that despite the early exit of world No. 1 and last year's runner-up Jannik Sinner, an Italian player is guaranteed to be in this year's final. Arnaldi, who fought for another two hours on court, said, "It wasn't an easy match. We both played a lot of matches, so it's normal not to be in the best shape, but you never want anyone's tournament to end this way."