Matteo Berrettini joins Marin Cilic among the men’s singles finalists who are forced to withdraw from playing in the grass court after testing positive for COVID-19. Cilic pulled out from Wimbledon on Monday, while Berrettini declared his withdrawal on Tuesday morning.

Berrettini wrote on his IG post: “I am heartbroken to announce that I need to withdraw from Wimbledon due to a positive COVID-19 test result. I have had flu symptoms and been isolated for the last few days.”

“Despite symptoms not being severe, I decided it was important to take another test this morning to protect the health and safety of my fellow competitors and everyone else involved in the tournament.”

Berrettini returned to SW19 as a viable contender once again after a year of coming within two sets of lifting his first major trophy at the All England Club. The 26-year-old was prevented by a right hand injury from playing any of the European clay-court swings. When he came back out on grass, he breezed through nine successive wins and collected consecutive crowns at Stuttgart and London Queen’s, thus establishing himself as a title threat.

“I have no words to describe the extreme disappoint[ment] I feel. The dream is over for this year. But I will be back stronger. Thank you for the support,” he added.

Both Berrettini and Cilic found themselves in the bottom half of the draw, which was led by No. 2 seed Rafael Nadal. Elias Ymer takes Berrettini’s spot in the tournament as a lucky loser to play against Cristian Garin Tuesday.