Matteo Berrettini has been forced to withdraw from the Australian Open just two days before his first round opener due to injury.The 29-year-old managed to carve out just one practice match against Norway’s Nicolai Budkov Kjaer on Friday.GettyBerrettini’s woes do not seem to be letting up in 2026[/caption]The Italian, who reached the semi-finals in Melbourne in 2022, had hoped to recover in time for his first-round match against Alex De Minaur, but made the difficult decision to rule himself out of the remainder of the tournament on Friday.Berretini, who reached the Wimbledon final in 2021, told reporters: “I’m really sorry to have to withdraw from the Australian Open. I’ve always loved playing here and feeling your incredible support.“Thank you to the tournament for its fantastic organisation and I hope to see you all very soon.”He later took to his Instagram story to say: “Hey guys, as you probably saw, I had to pull out from the Australian Open.“It’s never easy to take this kind of decision, but unfortunately I’ve felt a discomfort in my obliques once again and I won’t be ready to perform at my best level for five sets.“It hurts because playing in Australia has always been special, and after four weeks of intense training, I was excited and ready to get going.“I’m hoping and feeling that I won’t be out from the tennis courts for a long time. Thanks a lot for your support and understanding, your kind words mean more than you can imagine.“The year didn’t start in the way we all wanted, but luckily there is still time to make it better. Grazie.”His withdrawal comes just hours after Arthur Cazaux was forced to pull out with an elbow injury.Mackenzie McDonald will take the place of Berrettini as De Minaur’s new opponent.Berrettini issued a statement to announce his withdrawal from the Australian OpenGettyThe extent of Berrettini’s illness is unknown despite the star having taken part in two exhibition matches against Learner Tien and Tristan Schoolkate over the past few days.And it has done little to improve morale after what was an injury-hampered 2025 for the Italian.He exited last year’s Australian Open in the second-round 12 months ago.Berrettini was later forced to withdraw from the Italian Open after sustaining an oblique injury.The same injury saw him miss both the French Open and the US Open.Berrettini, who helped Italy claim Davis Cup success in November, has now missed seven Grand Slams in the past four years.Berrettini has stressed he has suffered a recurrence of an old injuryInstagram: Matteo BerrettiniAnd he would no doubt have fancied his chances against De Minaur – a player he holds a 3-2 head-to-head lead against.Home hero De Minaur faces a tough run if he is to go deep in the tournament.Should he come through his match with McDonald unscathed, the Australian would face either world No.74 Mariano Navone or 96th-ranked Hamad Medjedovic in the second round.He could then face American 29th seed Frances Tiafoe in round three before a possible meeting with Alexander Bublik in the last 16.And to make matters more daunting, Carlos Alcaraz could await in a blockbuster quarter-final clash.However, De Minaur is not displaying any signs of fear ahead of the Australian Open.GettyAlex De Minaur faces a daunting draw at the Australian Open[/caption]He said: “Hey, if it was meant to be easy, everyone would do it so I’m excited for the challenge.“Yeah super happy, very excited to get started and we’re just around the corner.“So hopefully I can put on a show for you guys.”