Matteo Berrettini, lion’s roar is worth the round of 16: Comesaña bows out after five and a quarter hours

Matthew Berrettini’s Roland Garros 2026 adventure will continue to the round of 16. The Roman fights like a lion for five hours and a quarter of play, manages not to lose his grip on the match after suffering an initial comeback, and at the tie-break of the decisive fifth set finally folds Francisco Comesaña: 6(3)-7, 7-5, 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-6(13) is the final result of one of the most intense and balanced matches of this edition of the Paris Slam.

Each of the five sets lasted at least 53 minutes, testifying to the enormous balance between the two contenders. Truly interminable, then, the last set, which ended in the tie-break that, as per the rules, must be won with at least ten points in one’s favor (instead of seven) and two ahead of the opponent: the first match point Comesaña has it on 9-8, Berrettini cancels it but wastes three balls for the victory (10-9, 11-10 and 12-11), risks losing on 12-13 but from there he signs three consecutive points to close the matter definitively.

For Berrettini, who had been missing at Roland Garros for no less than five years, this is his second best personal result in Paris: in fact, in 2021, he reached the quarterfinals, surrendering only to Novak Djokovic, later winner of that edition. It also looms, for the Roman, in overbearing return to the Top 100, after at the last update of the ATP rankings he had fallen to position number 105.

The 1997-born tennis player had not reached the round of 16 of a Grand Slam tournament since Wimbledon 2023: on that occasion he faced Carlos Alcaraz, who regained a set disadvantage and defeated him 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.