Matteo Berrettini must feel he is cursed at Roland Garros after withdrawing from the event for a fourth consecutive year.
Berrettini has suffered from repeated injuries during the last few years. The Italian may have achieved even more during his career had he not been on the sidelines so often because of physical issues.
He had avoided injuries in 2025 until the 2025 Madrid Open a few weeks ago. Berrettini withdrew from his match in Spain against Jack Draper, but recovered enough to compete on home soil at the 2025 Italian Open in Rome.
Sadly, Berrettini retired again in the second set of his contest against Casper Ruud. At that stage, it was not possible to determine whether he was likely to compete at the second Grand Slam of the year.
On Thursday, Berrettini confirmed in an Instagram post that he is unable to compete at Roland Garros. The 2021 Wimbledon runner-up ran out of time to be fit, but he expects to be ready for the grass-court swing.
"Ciao everyone, I unfortunately had to make the very difficult decision to withdraw from @rolandgarros . I just ran out of time to feel 100% ready to compete at the level that is needed. I’m looking forward to competing on grass and am already preparing with my team. I’m very appreciative of the support I feel from you all and can’t wait to be back out on the court."
Berrettini has not played in Paris since reaching the quarterfinal in 2021. The 29-year-old must understandably feel among the sport's most unlucky players after repeated physical issues have prevented him from appearing there.
What might make Berrettini's continued absence even more frustrating is how good he is on clay. Six of his ten ATP titles, including the last three, have come on the dirt. He can compete with the best on it at his very best.
Carlos Alcaraz is undoubtedly the French Open men's singles favorite. The four-time Grand Slam winner begins as the defending champion after beating Alexander Zverev in a five-set final.
Alcaraz also needed five sets to overcome Jannik Sinner in the semifinal. The pair renewed their rivalry at last week's 2025 Italian Open final. Alcaraz defeated his rival for a fourth consecutive time in a professional match to secure the title.
Although the Spaniard deserves to be considered the favorite, Sinner's reaching the final in his first tournament in over three months was very encouraging. He had not competed since winning the 2025 Australian Open in January.
Finally free of his controversial doping case after serving a three-month suspension, the ATP world No. 1 can focus on trying to win his first Grand Slam title outside of hard courts at the French Open and Wimbledon, both of which are currently held by Alcaraz.
Expectations for Novak Djokovic are lower than usual after he failed to win a match in Monte-Carlo and Madrid and split from Andy Murray. However, the Serbian has proven his doubters wrong several times and will hope to do so again.
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