ROLAND GARROS

June 3, 2026

Matteo Berrettini

Press Conference

M. ARNALDI/M. Berrettini

7-5, 5-2 [Ret.]

THE MODERATOR: Matteo, bad luck. When did you start feeling some discomfort? Have you spoken a little bit with the medical staff already?

MATTEO BERRETTINI: In the middle of the first set, I started to feel something when I was serving, but, you know, like, I was competing. The match was very tough, and I just didn't really think much of it. I just kept going and I tried to do my best.

It was a really tough task today, but then the more that I was playing, the more I was serving, the more I was hitting forehands, the worse I was feeling.

I took the medical timeout, and they told me that the area was really sore and really painful. So I just tried, but then the pain was too much, and I hope that I didn't do any serious damage.

I just have to wait and see in the next days for the scans and everything to see what it is. Hopefully it's nothing too bad. I'm obviously disappointed, but I think if I kept playing, I would have done way worse and probably the recovery time would have been longer.

Unfortunately, I didn't have any other choices than retire.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. Matteo, just how hard it was to give up tonight, to take the decision to stop the match? How hard it was in the player lounge, how did you feel?

MATTEO BERRETTINI: I didn't understand what you said, sorry.

Q. How hard it was to make the decision to stop during the match?

MATTEO BERRETTINI: It was really hard, no, because I thought that wasn't the right thing, mostly because I have done it many times and I'm tired of retiring, you know.

I didn't want the tournament to end like this. I just wanted to finish my match, losing, winning, obviously was important.

But it's a different feeling when you go home and you just think about what you could have done better if you lost the match like this. I feel like was taking away the chance to perform until the last point, to try.

It's a little bit what happened, you know, like in the last years, but I have to take the good stuff that I did in this tournament, because a few weeks ago, few days ago, would have been crazy to think about me in the quarterfinals, and so I'll try to go back home with a smile on my face.

It's going to be tough, but that's the mentality that I like to -- that's how I like to approach these two weeks, and of course I'm disappointed, I'm sad, but I'm also proud of the way I fought through this tournament.

Q. Bad luck tonight. Could you be more precise on the area? Is it the quad, is it the hip? Have you been injured before in this area?

MATTEO BERRETTINI: It's definitely the hip. I don't know exactly what it is. Hopefully the scans are going to be clear, you know, and they can tell me what I have.

I never had anything like that. I struggled with my right hip in the end of 2019, beginning of 2020, but was different kind of pain.

I don't know. I guess it's part of the job that I do. It's individual sport, so there is no, like, change, you know. I cannot ask for replacement. It is what it is. I have to take unfortunately the right decision.

Even though it was obviously a big stage, I'm the last one that wants to retire. I'm so tired of it. I just I don't want to do it, but sometimes you have to do it.

A lot of players have done it in the past, and it's the worst feeling ever, but it's the right thing to do, because it's not the last tournament I'm going to play in my life, and I have to think about my future. I have to think about my recovery.

And also, we have to give Matteo the respect that in order to beat him tonight I have to be at my 100%. And today, when I retired, now I'm not in 100%, and there was no chance I could keep playing like this.

So all together, you have to take the tough decision, but it's the right one for my career.