Playing while carrying injuries is a harsh truth in tennis, something Matteo Arnaldi fronted up to at the Canadian Open. After the Italian’s campaign came to an end after a loss to Tallon Griekspoor, he talked about the foot injuries he has been carrying all throughout the hard-court swing so far.

“It’s the other foot now. I have exactly the same thing on the other foot, and the other one had a stress fracture; this one doesn’t have a stress fracture, there’s edema and these things, so I know how to manage it”, said Arnaldi in the post-match press conference. “I’ve already done the same thing I had to do on the right one, so I already know how to manage and handle everything. Last week, maybe I shouldn’t have gone on court; I tried to go on court because I was already there, so I wanted to see how it was, but I certainly wasn’t ready”.

Arnaldi has dealt with foot problems, especially in his right foot, since the end of the 2024 season, chronic issues that have produced multiple fractures over time. This season alone, they nearly derailed him before it began: he opened 2026 with eight losses in his first 10 matches, watching his ranking slide from a career-high No. 30 down to No. 103 as the injury sapped his form. He clawed his way back with a Challenger 175 title in Cagliari in early May, a result that lifted him 70 spots in the rankings and set up the turnaround that followed.

He wasn’t wrong about not being ready for Washington. Facing Lorenzo Musetti, Arnaldi retired mid-match after winning only one of ten games.

Montreal told a different story. Despite the injury, Arnaldi looked sharper, opening with a win over Fabian Marozsan. Even against Griekspoor, he came out strong, taking the first set. He lost the second but stayed competitive deep into the third, before getting broken twice to fall 4-1 down, a hole too deep to recover from as Griekspoor closed out the match.

Tennis has no shortage of players who’ve pushed through injury across a grueling tour schedule. Rafael Nadal built an entire legend on it, battling foot, knee, and back problems for two decades while still piling up 92 career titles, including 22 majors, foot issues so severe he underwent a procedure around his own French Open run in 2022. That same tournament, in a very different way, is where Arnaldi’s body first turned on him this season.

Matteo Arnaldi Could Not Take the Court Due to Illness at the French Open Semifinal

For Arnaldi, foot problems haven’t been the only thing working against him this season. His body sidelined him in an entirely different way at Roland Garros, where he was riding the best run of his career.

Arnaldi had his career-best run at the French Open, reaching a Major semifinal for the first time. However, in a heartbreaking anti-climax, the Italian was forced to withdraw from his semifinal match against Flavio Cobolli, due to an illness which left him physically compromised.

He had taken full advantage of a wide-open draw, with Carlos Alcaraz absent and Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner both out early. Arnaldi opened his campaign with a win over Griekspoor in the first round, then survived marathon battles against Stefanos Tsitsipas, Raphael Collignon, and Frances Tiafoe to reach the quarterfinals. A retirement from Matteo Berrettini in the second set gave him a rare bit of rest heading into the semifinal, but the extra recovery time meant nothing once the illness hit.

Arnaldi has yet to reach a Tour-level final, with all of his career titles coming at the Challenger and ITF level. With the foot issue now manageable by his own account, his focus turns to finishing the North American swing strong, with real chances still ahead in Cincinnati and at the US Open.