After being out part of the season with an abdominal injury, Italian Matteo Berrettini experienced more bad luck at Flushing Meadows, with his US Open ending in horrific scenes, after rolling his ankle and falling heavily to the court.
Berrettini was facing Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech in the second round and was down 6-4, 5-3 in the second set – on the verge of going two sets down – before he was forced to retire.
The Italian howled in pain after collapsing on court and was unable to get to his feet for several minutes.
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The world No.36 was in agony on the ground in clear distress as ball kids put up umbrellas around him to shield him from public view. The Italian player then lay on the court for some time before anybody could attend to him.
"That was a heavy fall, he's in some distress here. This is tough to watch," said Sue Therle in commentary.
"I know that no one's allowed to come onto the court, but I think at a time like this, someone from his team should be allowed to come on court. It's an anxious and unpleasant wait for them too."
Eventually, Berrettini's father came onto court as medical staff attended to his needs.
"That's entirely appropriate," Therle added, "You'd want someone with you at a time like that. It's so unfair on a player that has had to contend with so much."
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Berrettini was able to hobble back to his feet to shake his opponent's hand and was given a round of applause by the crowd before he was taken off the court in a wheelchair.
Fans and commentators on social media labelled the incident "awful" and "horrible".
The 'Tennis Letter' Twitter account wrote: "Matteo Berrettini left the US Open in a wheelchair. It's difficult to explain just how horrific his luck has been. The amount of injuries he's had just isn't right. What's most frustrating is that there's no one to blame but the universe."
US tennis writer Christopher Clarey tweeted: "Berrettini, man, no way to end anyone's US Open".
Berrettini, one of the stars of the Netflix fly-on-the-wall docuseries Break Point, has been fighting to get back to full fitness after he suffered an abdominal injury at the Monte-Carlo Masters in April, which forced him to withdraw from his third-round match with Holger Rune.
The injury meant he had to miss the clay court season, including Roland-Garros. He did return for Wimbledon, making it through to the fourth round, before falling to eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz.
At Flushing Meadows, he overcame Ugo Humbert 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 in straight sets in the first round, before injury again cruelled his progress.
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