Matteo Arnaldi, thick comeback: now there'is a "noble decadent"
Matteo Arnaldi has made it through the first round of Roland Garros against a far from easy opponent, the Dutch Tallon Griekspoor: the Azzurro, currently at position number 104 in the ranking, overcame the ATP number 33 (and number 29 in the seeding) despite a first set lost at tie-break, regrouping his ideas and imposing his own game in the following fractions: 6-7(9), 3-6, 7-6(6), 6-3 the final score at the end of a marathon of exactly four hours.
Arnaldi’s next opponent will be a former Top 3, who has played one final in Paris, in 2021, but who has been going through a period of deep crisis in recent times: he is the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas (now no. 79 ATP), who got through the first round by taking advantage of the withdrawal of Alexandre Muller, against whom he was nevertheless ahead 6-2, 3-0 after fifty minutes of play, before the Frenchman decided to raise the white flag due to physical problems.
Arnaldi and Tsitsipas have met only once in their careers, just at Roland Garros but at the level of the round of 16, in 2024: the Greek won 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-2, 6-2 and qualified for the quarters, where, however, he was beaten by the future winner of that tournament, Carlos Alcaraz, the great absentee of the 2026 edition.
Matteo Arnaldi, class of 2001, is in his fourth career participation at Roland Garros: the round of 16 in 2024 is his best result in Paris, while in 2025 his adventure ended in the second round at the expense of another Azzurro, Flavio Cobolli. Tsitsipas, 28 years old next Aug. 12, on the other hand, is in his 10th appearance in the Slam on clay: a finalist in 2021, he was defeated by Novak Djokovic in five sets, with the Serb able to regain a two-set disadvantage. He also played the semifinals in 2020 and the quarters in 2023 and 2024.
Last year, the Greek made it past the first round by beating Tomas Martin Etcheverry in three sets, before surprisingly surrendering to Matteo Gigante from Rome, who came from the qualifiers and got the better of Tsitsipas himself 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4.
