Matteo Berrettini wins in first Roland Garros appearance in five years

A first-round match on Court 13 at Roland Garros between the world No. 65 and No. 105 normally doesn't draw a main-room post-match press conference for either player, particularly when the winner is the player ranked outside the Top 100.

But when the winner is Matteo Berrettini,

"It feels good to be here and talking about a win," the former Wimledon finalist confessed after his four-set 6-7(2), 7-5, 6-1, 6-2 comeback against Marton Fucsovics, which was both his first appearance and match win in Paris since he reached the 2021 quarterfinals.

"I didn't start in the right way. I had to find a little bit the right mindset, I would say. I really care about this tournament in general. Every match that I'm playing, I'm trying to play my best. ... Sometimes this sport can be brutal, but I think I finished the match better than the way I started, which is a good sign. So I'm really excited for what's next."

The combination of injuries and illness that have marred Berrettini's career since reaching his career-high ranking of world No. 6 in 2022 have been particularly apparent in Paris, leading to the Italian's repeated withdrawals from the clay-court major. Last year, he was expected to be in the draw, but "ran out of time" to recover after suffering an oblique injury in Rome.

Since reaching the title match at the All England Club five years ago, where he lost to Novak Djokovic, Berrettini had missed eight of the subsequent 18 Grand Slam events played, including this year's Australian Open.

But owing to a "resilient mind," the 30-year-old says he still finds the joy in competing, and still shows it—like during a staggering 6-0, 6-0 win over Daniil Medvedev earlier this spring in Monte Carlo.

"When injuries are coming, you're always negative, and you don't want to stop, and you are thinking about I could have done this, I could have done that, but at the same time, I'm looking at myself in the mirror right now, and I so proud of my career and what I've achieved," he said. "Who knows me since I've been a kid knows that I've been getting injured since I was 12, basically.

"It's kind of like part of who I am. If I have a big serve, big forehand, I also have this issue. I also have a resilient mind, and I always work hard to come back and ... I just like to compete. I like to put myself in situations where most of the people would struggle a little bit and the tough forgets, the more I'm there. I'm just a little bit psycho, I think.

"Again, that's what I like to do in the next years that I'm playing. I like to compete. I like to have fun with it. I like to win as many matches as possible."

Berrettini will face No. 22 seed Arthur Rinderknech in the second round, in the hopes of claiming back-to-back major match wins for the first time since 2023.