Berrettini, the 2021 Wimbledon finalist, was trailing 7-5, 5-2 in his quarterfinal against fellow Italian Matteo Arnaldi when he quit the match due to an undisclosed injury.
He issued a very public wave of apology to the fans who had paid to watch him with a ticket that only entitled them to see one match.
“I’m the last one that wants to retire,” he said afterwards.
“I’m so tired of it. I just don’t want to do it, but sometimes you have to do it. A lot of players have done it in the past, and it’s the worst feeling ever, but it’s the right thing to do, because it’s not the last tournament I’m going to play in my life, and I have to think about my future. I have to think about my recovery.”
If you are a fan of upsets, this year’s French Open will go down as the best Grand Slam tennis tournament of them all, but the wider sporting world will have a different view.
Earlier on the same court, world number one Aryna Sabalenka crashed out in baffling fashion, as she lost ten games in succession to crash out with a 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 defeat against Diana Shnaider in the Roland Garros quarter-finals.
Then Maja Chwalinska is a shock semi-finalist after she beat Anna Kalinskaya in straight sets to reach the last four of a Grand Slam for the first time.
Finally, we had Flavio Cobolli’s four-set win against fourth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, as another highly ranked player crashed out of a top half of the draw that is now more wide open than any we have seen in recent Grand Slams.
This year’s Roland Garros has been a tale of the unexpected and while the jeopardy in sport is an appealing quality, the second Grand Slam of the tennis year has taken that notion too far.
Even before a ball was struck, this tournament was dealt a huge blow as it’s defending champion and shining star, Carlos Alcaraz, was ruled out due to injury.
There was then a threat that his big rival, Jannik Sinner, would win with so much ease that it would be a less-than-inspiring tournament.
That was before Sinner’s shock exit in the third round was backed up by Novak Djokovic’s departure the following day, after he lost against Joao Fonseca.
Had the Brazilian teenager backed up that victory with a storming run to the final, the tournament may have retained some star power, but Fonseca fell at the quarterfinal stage and now the sporting world is likely to have diverted attention elsewhere.
The tennis community may be fascinated to see who emerges from a men’s semifinal line-up that will see Alexander Zverev play Jakub Mensik and Arnaldi play his fellow Italian Flavio Cobolli.
Then in the women’s draw, Chwalinska will take on Shnaider, while Marta Kostyuk will face Mirra Andreeva in what may be the most exciting match left in the tournament.
The sporting world was captivated a year ago as Coco Gauff beat Sabalenka in a dramatic women’s final, before Alcaraz beat Sinner in one of the best tennis matches of all-time in the men’s final.
This year, the finals will be seriously lacking star power and while it is nice to see new contenders emerging the scale of the decimation of the draw this year has damaged the interest in a tournament that will probably be remembered for poor performances from big stars rather than iconic moments.
