For a second event in a row, Flavio Cobolli made a tournament exit after losing to a fellow Italian, although in very contrasting circumstances. While his loss to Lorenzo Musetti in Lyon was a three-set slugfest where the World No. 6 narrowly missed out, his loss to Matteo Berrettini at the Vienna Open was an emotional scene, as Cobolli exited without completing the match.
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“Vienna, I’m sorry to say goodbye to you like this,” said Cobolli on his Instagram story. “I love this tournament and I was really looking forward to facing Matteo, with all of you in the stands. I felt something during the match the other night, but I wanted to push through to the end. Today, though, I realized that continuing would mean forcing it too much, and I had to stop. Those tears weren’t from pain. They were emotion, maybe a bit of stress, and the disappointment of having to leave the court when all I wanted was to stay on it. Tomorrow I’ll do all the tests and I’ll update you as soon as possible. Don’t worry, I plan to be there in Paris! Thanks for all the love.”
Very early in the first set, it was evident that Cobolli was struggling with his movement and was far away from the form he has shown this year, which saw him reach the French Open final. Down 2-5 in the first set, the Italian decided to pull the plug, retiring from the contest. The frustration of it all brought the World No. 6 to tears as he sat on the bench, while his opponent, Berrettini, came across the net to give his compatriot and friend a warm hug before he made an exit to the crowd’s applause.
While injury-related retirements are not uncommon in the final stages of the season, Cobolli’s retirement has broader implications. The Italian is currently sixth with 3690 points in a tight ATP Finals race, and a forced retirement gives his nearest competitors a chance to surpass him. Given that this is the first time Cobolli is in contention for a spot at the year-ending competition and the Finals are set to be in Turin, it is understandable why the Italian has been pushing through.
Facing his compatriots in a high-stakes situation has not been a happy memory for Cobolli. During the 2025 US Open, the Italian suffered a similar fate, withdrawing from his match against Musetti in the third set in their third-round clash. Even on the WTA side recently, the much-anticipated all-Polish clash between Iga Swiatek and Maja Chwalinska at the Wuhan Open saw the former World No. 1 struggle with an injury. While she did finish the match, the six-time Major champion was visibly in tears as she finished the match through pain.
Of all people, no player would be better positioned to empathize with Cobolli than his Vienna opponent, Berrettini. Great friends with Cobolli off the court, the former Wimbledon runner-up had nothing but words of affection for his compatriot.
Matteo Berrettini Has Kind Words for Flavio Cobolli After the Vienna Retirement
Seeing your friend in tears is never a good sight, and Matteo Berrettini felt the same way, as Cobolli could not hold back his tears in Vienna. Especially since Berrettini himself has been plagued by injuries in recent years, which have hampered his ranking and form.
“I feel so sorry for him,” said Berrettini during the on-court interview. “I’ve been in that situation many times, maybe too many, that’s why I got emotional. I know how tough it can be, I know how much he wants to be in Turin, and the last thing you want is to get injured a few weeks before. Hopefully it’s nothing serious.”
Berrettini is well aware of what it is like to make it through the last stages of the season through injuries just to get a spot at the ATP Finals. The Italian battled with an ankle injury during the 2019 season just to get the last spot for the Finals that year. He did qualify and even won a match against Dominic Thiem in the round-robin stage. However, that was not the last bad memory associated with the ATP Finals for Berrettini, who was injured against Alexander Zverev during the 2021 edition in Turin and was forced to retire.
The injuries have hampered Berrettini this year as well, leading to some retirements and withdrawals among Italian players. During the French Open, Berrettini returned to form but had to retire in the quarterfinal against Matteo Arnaldi, with the latter then withdrawing before his semifinal clash against Cobolli due to illness.