Matteo Berrettini endured a dramatic afternoon at the 2026 French Open, battling past Francisco Comesana in a hard-fought contest. However, much of the attention during the match centered on Berrettini’s frustration with his opponent’s repeated interruptions, including toilet breaks and a medical timeout.
Berrettini has endured a difficult 2026 season so far and is still searching for his first title of the year. The Italian arrived in Paris hoping to turn his fortunes around and opened his campaign with a four-set victory over Marton Fucsovics before defeating 22nd seed Arthur Rinderknech to set up a third-round meeting with Comesana.
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During the match, tensions rose when Matteo Berrettini grew increasingly annoyed by what he felt were excessive delays from Comesana. The Argentine took multiple bathroom breaks and later required a medical timeout in the fourth set, prompting the Italian to voice his frustrations to the chair umpire.
The situation became even more unusual when Comesana’s physiotherapist reportedly explained that the Argentine was dealing with stomach issues and could potentially “sh*t himself” on court if he was not allowed additional time.
“Comesana just had 2 toilet breaks and now is taking a MTO to go to the toilet again You’re supposed to be in charge,” Berrettini told the umpire.
“This is a supervisor decision, you can ask them, nothing I can do,” the umpire replied.
Despite the disruptions and the tense exchanges, Matteo Berrettini managed to keep his focus and eventually edged out Francisco Comesana 7-6(3), 5-7, 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(13) to book his place in the second week of the French Open.
Matteo Berrettini shares his feelings about compatriot Jannik Sinner’s shock French Open exit
Matteo Berrettini has opened up about his reaction to compatriot Jannik Sinner’s shock early exit from the 2026 French Open. Sinner entered the tournament as one of the overwhelming favorites for the title but suffered a second-round defeat to Juan Manuel Cerundolo in five sets.
Speaking during a press conference after his victory over Arthur Rinderknech, Berrettini revealed that he had spoken with Sinner following the loss and encouraged him to move on from the disappointment as quickly as possible. The Italian added that Sinner, in turn, wished him good luck for the remainder of the tournament.
“Of course, I saw what happened to Jannik (Sinner), which is really unfortunate. I saw him before he left the Roland-Garros grounds, and I told him to come back as soon as possible. He told me: ‘Good luck.’ I also saw in his press conference that he was still focused and confident, especially regarding what happened in his match,” Berrettini said.
“That’s part of the sport we play. What happened to him is not so rare; it has happened to many players before. But what he has done over the last few weeks has never been done before; it’s truly incredible. What happened today… I am certain that he will recover very quickly and will once again show what a great champion he is. Another thing is that I think he handled the situation very well,” he added.
Next up, Matteo Berrettini will turn his attention to a fourth-round showdown with Juan Manuel Cerundolo at Roland Garros on Monday, June 1.
Edited by Pritha Ghosh
