Matteo Berrettini explains Roland Garros tears: "I deserved it"
Matteo Berrettini took the Roland Garros round of 16 after a wait of no less than five years, managing to prevail over Francisco Comesaña in five sets, after more than five hours of play and no less than three tie-breaks. A great feat, as the score of 6(3)-7, 7-5, 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-6(13) certifies, but above all a colossal emotion for the Roman, who at the end of the match allowed himself to weep loudly with a very strong liberating meaning. And, after the victory achieved over the same player who had eliminated Luciano Darderi in the previous round, the explanation about those tears also came.
“I am very tired, but also extremely happy and proud of my team and my family,” Berrettini revealed. “I can’t explain how happy I am to have made it, because I really didn’t expect to make it all the way to the round of 16 here at Roland Garros. There is so much work behind it, my staff knows very well what I am talking about. We focused on the physical aspect and also on the mental aspect, we did it really hard. Throughout the match I kept telling myself that, telling myself that I deserve to be here.”
“Comesaña gave an incredible performance, I think in five hours he missed at most two balls,” Berrettini added. “The tie-break seemed endless, and I had to look for a way to win it. If I had lost the pain would have been great, but it still would have remained an absolute level battle. I feel absolutely grateful for it all, but I also want to thank the Roland Garros crowd. Despite the great heat that was there, I felt their support even when I was down 2-1.”
The match was a masterpiece of balance and competitive tension: each of the five sets lasted at least 53 minutes, a testament to how equal the two contenders were throughout the match. Particularly dramatic was the final tie-break, which according to the rules must be won with at least ten points in one’s favor and two points ahead of the opponent: Comesaña had a match point at 9-8, but Berrettini cancelled it. The Roman then squandered three balls for victory (on 10-9, 11-10, and 12-11), risked losing on 12-13, before signing three consecutive points that closed the matter once and for all.
For Berrettini, this is the second best personal best result in his career in Paris: in 2021, the only other time he had reached this stage of the French Slam, he had gone all the way to the quarterfinals, surrendering only to Novak Djokovic, later winner of that edition. It is also worth mentioning that the one against Comesaña is the first round of 16 in a Slam for the Roman since Wimbledon 2023, when he faced Carlos Alcaraz, who came back from a one-set disadvantage and defeated him 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Berrettini’s path in this Roland Garros tells the story of a player who has been able to grow match by match. In the opener he had rematched Hungary’s Márton Fucsovics, losing the first set in a tie-break before prevailing 6-7, 7-5, 6-1, 6-2 after more than three hours of play. In the second round he had then dominated Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech, the number 25 seed and host, with a clean 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in about two hours and 20 minutes, demonstrating growing solidity and steadily improving physical condition.
Qualification to the round of 16 will also have a significant impact on the ATP ranking of the Roman, who at the last update had slipped to position number 105, outside the top 100. The result obtained in Paris will guarantee him a consistent recovery of points and an overpowering return among the world’s top 100 players, confirming that the work done with his staff-both on the physical and mental level, as he himself pointed out-is finally bearing fruit.
