Matteo Berrettini out of Queen's Club Championships title defence after leaving court in tears in Stuttgart

Defending champion Matteo Berrettini is out of the Queen's Club Championships as announced by the official social media page of the tournament.

Matteo Berretini won the Queen's Club event for two years straight but the Italian won't be playing this year. We'll have a new champion in Queen's and it's a pretty good field so should be an interesting one. The Italian isn't having a very good season with poor play and more recently various injuries.

He missed all of the clay season and now the grass season is looking shaky as well. He made a return in Stuttgart recently but lost easily ending up in tears while he was leaving the court. It was a tough moment for Berretini he continues to battle injuries and fitness issues with a very clear lack of confidence in his play as well.

The announcement came from the Twitter page of the event. Berrettini provided a short statement on the withdrawal admitting that he's heartbroken over not being able to defend his trophy. He did promise to return next year and hopefully, things will be a bit better than in his career.

"I’m really sad to have to withdraw from the tournament, and not get the chance to defend my title. I wish the tournament and everyone involved a successful week. I look forward to coming back next year."