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A beaming Matteo Berrettini said tennis is the “love of my life” after reaching a Grand Slam quarter-final for the first time in almost four years.<\/b><\/p>\n
The 30-year-old beat Argentina’s Juan Manuel Cerundolo 6-3 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (8-6) and is one of three Italians in the last eight – the first time this has happened in the Open era, despite world number one Jannik Sinner exiting in the second round.<\/p>\n
Flavio Cobolli, the 10th seed, beat Zachary Svajda in four sets while Matteo Arnaldi spent more than five hours on court to beat 19th seed Frances Tiafoe. <\/p>\n
Arnaldi, the world number 104, will play Berrettini in his maiden Grand Slam quarter-final, guaranteeing at least one Italian – and one player ranked outside the top 100 – will reach the last four.<\/p>\n
Berrettini, the 2021 Wimbledon finalist, reached a career-high world number six in 2022 but has slipped to 105th in the rankings after being plagued by injuries and fitness problems.<\/p>\n
“[Tennis] is the love of my life, if it wasn’t I wouldn’t be here,” Berrettini said.<\/p>\n
“After all the setbacks, all the injuries, all the bad moments, I came back once again. <\/p>\n
“There were moments where it was really tough to come back and play, because I wasn’t ready and I wasn’t sure about my confidence – now I feel great.”<\/p>\n
Berrettini is the lowest-ranked Roland Garros quarter-finalist since Igor Andreev in 2007.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n