"It's the worst feeling a player can have" says Alexander Zverev on Berrettini's retirement

It was a brilliant match between Zverev and Berrettini that saw the first set last well over an hour. After a dramatic tiebreak, it was Zverev who came out on top. Early on in the 2nd set, the German continued to apply pressure and during one of those rallies, Berrettini injured himself. An abdominal muscle issue was the culprit and after an MTO Berrettini realized he could not finish the match.

After the retiremenet Zverev said:

“I don’t really know what to say, because this is the worst feeling a player can have. You play all year long to qualify for this beautiful tournament. For Matteo playing at home, this is the worst feeling I think he will ever have in his career.”

Turning his attention to the tennis they did play Zverev said:

“I thought the first set was incredibly high-level tennis. This is all not important. The most important thing is that both players at the end of the match can shake hands and are healthy. Today this is not the case. I think a lot of you guys, everybody here in Italy looked forward to seeing [Matteo] play all three matches, maybe the semi-finals, maybe the final."