Arnaldi outlasts Tiafoe in 5-hour epic to complete historic Italian trio in Paris

Matteo Arnaldi produced one of his French Open matches to become the third Italian in the quarter-finals on Monday when he beat American 19th seed Frances Tiafoe 7-6(5) 6-7(5) 3-6 7-6(3) 6-4 in a night match on Court Suzanne-Lenglen that lasted five hours and 26 minutes.

The result gave Italy a notable presence in the last eight, with Arnaldi joining Matteo Berrettini and Flavio Cobolli. Jannik Sinner’s surprising exit from the second round. Arnaldi, who is ranked 104th in the world, will now face compatriot Berrettini for a place in the semi-finals.

Arnaldi looked done as he went down 4-1 in the fourth set, with Tiafoe in control and the match slipping away. Instead, under Paris spotlights and with the crowd fully engaged, he found further pressure, took the match to a deciding set and then held on for his third match point after a night of ferocious ball strikes and punishing rallies.

“It’s a dream to be here. I was so tired today in the third set,” Arnaldi said after the match. “We live to play these matches, I always wanted to play like this at night at Roland Garros. It wasn’t tennis, just something else, with everything we had. Someone had to win. Luckily, it was me tonight.”

Arnaldi has now spent 17 hours and 42 minutes on court in Paris, the most by any player to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final since the ATP Tour began recording match times in 1991. He had already needed more than five hours to get into the third-round match and once again had to rely on stamina as much as skill.

Against Tiafoe’s power, the Italian survived through ruthless defense, chasing from corner to corner and repeatedly turning defense into attack. The match stretched both men to exhaustion before Tiafoe finally broke and finished with a backhand into the net.

For Arnaldi, it was a return from the region and a place in the round of 16; it was another marker for Italy in a strong Paris run, with three men in the quarter-finals and an all-Italian meeting between Arnaldi and Berrettini now deciding one semi-final place.

– The end

Issued by:

Amar Panicker

Published on:

02 Jun 2026 09:01 IST