Matteo Arnaldi and the Power of Perseverance

Past midnight on a cool evening in Paris, Matteo Arnaldi won the match of his life. 

It was a five-setter—his second of the week—and he came back from two sets and a double break down, coming through a tumultuous fifth set to eventually claim victory. Arnaldi, into his first Grand Slam quarterfinal, was ranked No. 104 in the world at the start of the French Open. 

What the ranking doesn’t show is that this was always possible from Arnaldi. In an up-and-down tennis career with flashes of brilliance, the one constant has been an unrelenting fighting spirit, and it’s finally paying dividends for him on the biggest stage in the sport. 

Breakout Moment in Davis Cup Heroics

Arnaldi first climbed the ATP rankings in 2023, ending the year at No. 44 in the world, a jump from his year-end ranking of No. 134 in 2022. But Arnaldi’s biggest moment that season wasn’t even worth any points.

As part of the Italian Davis Cup team, Arnaldi switched off with Lorenzo Musetti as the No. 2 player, behind a rising Jannik Sinner. Arnaldi lost a tight match to Botic van de Zandschulp in Italy’s opening match against the Netherlands, but in the final against Australia he was slotted back in to play Alexei Popyrin in the opening match of the tie. 

And, two-and-a-half hours later, he delivered.

It took him an hour to win the first set and only 36 minutes to drop the second. Arnaldi struggled on serve throughout the entire match, and that was only exacerbated in the third set, where he faced eight break points while Popyrin faced just two.

But Arnaldi staved off every break point and converted one of his own. It doubled as a match point, and he put Italy up 1-0.

What will be remembered is Sinner winning the title for Italy, but he couldn’t have sealed it if Arnaldi hadn’t pulled through such a difficult match. It was an important win and a sign of things to come.

New Highs in 2024

Continuing to find success and continuing to play long, chaotic matches, Arnaldi stayed steady in 2024, improving his ranking and his tennis. 

He reached his first Grand Slam fourth round with a stellar run at Roland Garros, defeating Arthur Fils, Alexandre Muller, and sixth seed Andrey Rublev before falling to ninth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas. But Arnaldi still managed to make that loss competitive, taking the first set and challenging the former French Open finalist. 

But after that run Arnaldi’s results stagnated for a while. The most disappointing loss came in the first round of Wimbledon, where he lost to Frances Tiafoe after leading by two sets to love. Arnaldi tends to find a way through the chaotic moments, but they don’t always fall his way.

 Despite loss after loss, Arnaldi kept going and found payoff in an edition of Montreal hampered by the Olympics. Arnaldi, who lost early in Olympic men’s singles, took full advantage of an open draw and made the semifinals, his best result at a Masters 1000. 

He ended the year at No. 37 in the world and, in an earlier stage of the Davis Cup, once again pulled through a close match for Italy—a match that lasted nearly four hours.

Injury Struggles and Stagnant Results

Arnaldi’s perseverance doesn’t just manifest itself in his long, close matches. Progress isn’t linear for him, and as much as there have been highs in his career, he’s had to get through lows as well.

2025 saw a dropoff in results, with only a quarterfinal run in Madrid standing out. Arnaldi finished 2026 at No. 61 in the world and was not selected for the Italian Davis Cup team. He didn’t even have the chance to come through a tight moment once again.

Hampered by a recurring foot injury, Arnaldi was forced to give a walkover at the 2026 Australian Open. He didn’t play again until Indian Wells, and through Madrid he won only one match. It wasn’t for lack of close matches, but Arnaldi found himself almost always on the losing end. He fell out of the top 100 and looked in poor form heading into Roland Garros.

But with Arnaldi, there’s always more tennis to be played. He won a Challenger title on home soil in Cagliari, then put together a quality run in Rome. And with the French Open playing out the way it has, Arnaldi found his best tennis at the right time. 

A Roland Garros to Remember

The 2026 French Open has been full of endlesstwists and turns. That makes it the perfect tournament for Arnaldi to thrive. It hasn’t been easy, but Arnaldi’s tennis, at its best and its worst, has never been easy. 

In the first round, Arnaldi notched a four-set upset over 29th seed Tallon Griekspoor. After dropping the first set in a chaotic tiebreak, Arnaldi claimed the second set, 6-3, and turned the tables by winning the third set in a tiebreak of his own, saving four set points along the way. And the fourth set was all his as he clinically closed out the match.

His second-round match was a rematch of the end to his 2024 French Open run as he faced Stefanos Tsitsipas. While this year hasn’t been Tsitsipas’ best, he’s still a dangerous opponent at this tournament and this time Arnaldi managed the four-set win.

The third round against Raphael Collignon marked Arnaldi’s first five-setter of the tournament and his first match of the tournament after the draw was completely blown open.The match lasted five hours, and Arnaldi came back from a deficit of two sets to one. When the match went to a deciding tiebreak in the fifth set, Arnaldi took control, playing his very best tennis in the crucial final moments. After being on the receiving end of close losses for almost the entire season, Arnaldi once again found his strength in grit and perseverance.

And nowhere was that more clear than his fourth-round match.

Arnaldi won the first set, but when the 19th-seeded Tiafoe took the second and third and went up 4-1 in the fourth, it looked as though it would be a repeat of their Wimbledon match two years ago, with Arnaldi unable to fight through. 

But he didn’t give up. When Tiafoe was two points away from taking the match, Arnaldi broke back and won the set in a tiebreak, sending the match to a fifth set. 

It was everything Arnaldi had been building up to and more. The experience in close matches, the fight through his injury earlier in the season, his tight contests earlier in the tournament. Despite Tiafoe putting up an immense fight, Arnaldi maintained control of the set with impeccable defense and high-risk shots.

Nearly two hours before he converted match point, Arnaldi stared down defeat. His first Grand Slam quarterfinal looked impossible to reach, but he made it anyway. 

This is undoubtedly the best run of Arnaldi’s career, and it’s been a long time coming. He’s stayed true to his style and has shown remarkable determination in the highs and lows of his career, and that’s why he’s still standing in the most turbulent tournament of the year. 

Main Photo Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports