Roaring Revival: Berrettini Battles Into Quarterfinals, 5 Years After Last RG Appearance
By Richard Pagliaro | Monday, June 1, 2026
Photo credit: Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP/Getty
In a match of marathon men, Matteo Berrettini showed a spirited closing kick.
Berrettini burst through five points in a row, saving three set points in the process, to return to the Roland Garros quarterfinals with a 6-3, 7-6(2), 7-6(6) victory over Juan Manuel Cerundolo today.
One round after Berrettini saved two match points edging Francisco Comesana in a five hour, 13-minute marathon, the world No. 105 struck with conviction becoming the lowest-ranked men’s Roland Garros quarterfinalist since Russian Igor Andreev in 2007.
It is Berrettini’s seventh career Grand Slam quarterfinal and comes five years since his last Roland Garros appearance, which ended in the quarterfinals.
“I was pumped, happy, and again, grateful. Really tough match,” Berrettini said. “I just fought through, especially in the third set. You know, I was down a break, and 6-3 down in the breaker.
“So I was able to get the win in straight sets, which is great, and I think a really high-level tennis overall. I’m really happy and proud of myself.”
A wild match of moment shifts saw a ball from outside Court Suzanne Lenglen fly into the stadium, fans erupt in the wave during the third-set tension and slash successive inside-out forehand strikes to end it in two hours, 32 minutes.
Italian title hopes took a hit when 2025 semifinalist Lorenzo Musetti withdrew with injury before the tournament began then Cerundolo shocked Sinner smashing the top seed’s 30-match winning streak, shattering his Roland Garros title quest and denying his dream of completing the career Grand Slam in Paris.
Yet, Berrettini and Davis Cup teammate Flavio Cobolli continue to fly the Italian flag giving Italy two of the the last eight men in Paris.
The 10th-seeded Cobolli ended American Zach Svajda’s inspired run breaking serve seven times in a 6-2, 6-3, 6-7(3), 7-6(5) victory to charge into his second quarterfinal. San Diego native Svajda landed in Paris with one tour-level clay-court win and earned the biggest victory of his career by toppling 26th-seeded Francisco Cerundolo, Juan Manuel Cerundolo’s older brother, in five sets on Saturday on his late father, Tom Svajda’s birthday.
After today’s hard-fought win that ended with Cobolli cracking a crosscourt forehand pass, the Italian said he told Svajda “Your father would be proud of you.”
The big-hitting Berrettini has played with passion and pride turning the red clay into revival ground.
The 30-year-old Berrettini has reached the quarterfinals or better at all four Grand Slams. Injuries have ravaged Berrettini’s body in recent years, including a right oblique and abdominal issue that knocked him out of the 2025 Roland Garros and US Open.
Overcoming those painful setbacks, Berrettini said he drew positive energy from his family and team, including co-coach Thomas Enqvist to light up his darkness times away from tennis.
“I was lucky enough to have people around me that helped me to find the kind of energy, to find the positive vibes, the positive thoughts, which is not easy to find, you know, when you’re in the darkness a little bit, when things are not coming your way, and you’re struggling just to hit few balls or just struggling to compete,” Berrettini said. “That’s why I feel like this, because from the very first
point until the last, I was there, I was enjoying, I was talking good to myself.
“This is what tennis means this for me, like, being pumped, happy, and ready to compete.”
Meanwhile, spare a thought and some positive wishes for Cerundolo,
The left-handed Argentinean spent a punishing 12 hours and 28 minutes en route to his maiden Grand Slam fourth round. Cerundolo won 18 of the final 20 games shocking a cramping world No. 1 Jannik Sinner in round two then went the distance edging Martin Landaluce in a five hour, 58-minute epic—third longest Roland Garros match on record.
On top of all that major mileage, Cerundolo suffered apparent strained hamstring in the second set today, took a medical timeout after dropping the second set, then completely shifted his style playing some serve-and-volley to shorten points and it worked as he earned triple set point at 6-3 in the third-set tiebreaker.
A rash of Injuries a stiff-arm two-handed backhand have held Berrettini back at times. Facing triple set point, Berrettini turned it up in that five-point run.
A pained Cerundolo was clutching the back of his hamstring as the second-set tiebreaker progressed.
Dancing around his backhand, Berrettini blasted a forehand for a fistful of set points at 6-2.
Bursting off the baseline like a sprinter busting out of the blocks, Berrettini ran down a dropped and flicked a short-angled backhand pass for a two-set lead after 93 minutes.
Following the second set, the 24-year-old Argentinean left the court for a medical timeout to take treatment for his leg issue.
After about an eight-minute break, play resumed.
The bad news for Cerundolo: He’d need to make his second comeback of the tournament from two sets down against an explosive Italian opponent while on a gimpy leg.
The worse news: Berrettini was 32-0 when winning the first two sets in major matches.
Still, a hobbled Cerundolo kept battling. When Berrettini slapped a forehand into net, Cerundolo broke for a 3-2 third-set lead.
Cerundolo served for the third set at 5-4, but Berrettini ran down a dropper and responded with a perfect re-drop winner for break points. Banging a forehand winner down the line, Berrettini broke back to level the set.
The left-hander worked over Berrettini’s weaker backhand wing building that 6-3 tiebreaker lead. Cerundolo missed a backhand volley on a serve-volley attempt on the first set point and had his best shot to take the set on set point No. 2.
An adventurous 23-shot rally saw Berrettini boldly play the dropper, Cerundolo caught up to it but bunted his backhand into the top of the tape and it crawled back on his side of the net.
On the third set point, Berrettini attacked to force the error setting up his fiery forehands to finish the job.
The 2021 Wimbledon finalist Berrettini will play either 19th-seeded American Frances Tiafoe or Italian compatriot Matteo Arnaldi for a semifinal spot. Berrettini and No. 2-seeded Alexander Zverev are the only men still standing who have previously played a major final. Olympic gold medal champion Zverev is a three-time Grand Slam finalist, falling to Carlos Alcaraz in five sets in the 2024 French Open final.
It’s been a long and punishing road back to the quarterfinals.
Berrettini said he’s come to accept the physical price he pays to play explosive tennis.
“So the reality is that this is a really high, demanding sport, physically and mentally,” Berrettini said. “I think it’s one of the toughest sport out there, considering the conditions, the traveling, everything together, the amount of hours that we practice and we train and we play, and everything together.
“So I just got to the conclusion that, you know, my body is used, as is normal. Some people, they have, I don’t know, just a smoother way to play. I just have a really strong way of playing, but I accepted it. This is who I am.
“The key was actually finding the confidence to go 100% every single shot like I did. I think that’s what made me successful was that I was, you know, like, hitting the ball hard and with a lot of weight on the ball.
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