Roland Garros, Flavio Cobolli goes to final in the ugliest way: Matteo Arnaldi raises white flag
Church in Paris on the eve of the Roland Garros semifinal. At 6:35 p.m., loudspeakers at Philippe Chatrier announced the withdrawal of Matteo Arnaldi, who arrived just minutes before the start of the challenge against Flavio Cobolli.
The first rumors speak of a problem related to a virus that would have prevented the Ligurian tennis player from taking the court. Organizers also announced that spectators in attendance would receive ticket refunds. By virtue of Arnaldi’s forfeit, it will therefore be Flavio Cobolli who will directly enter the final of Roland Garros 2026, where he will face Alexander Zverev in the challenge for the title.
Cobolli’s path to the final has been extraordinary: the Roman tennis player, now one step away from the Top 10 of the ATP ranking, has eliminated Pellegrino, Wu Yibing, Tien, Svajda and Auger-Aliassime over the course of the tournament, losing only two sets so far. In the last act before Arnaldi’s forfeit, Cobolli had overcome Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime in a comeback with a score of 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, in a match affected by wind in the first set. “In the first set it was so windy and it was difficult to play,” the Roman had explained. “I went to the bathroom to think, to try to change something. I told myself to fight because I thought it was the chance of my life. I did it and I’m happy.”
On the other side of the net Sunday will be Alexander Zverev, who pulled off a pass to the final by overcoming Czech Jakub Mensik in four sets with the scores of 7-5, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in nearly three hours of play. For the German, in his fourth career Slam final, it was a golden opportunity to win the first Major title of his career, complicit with the absence of Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic. “In the last two weeks Mensik has played unbelievable, but I’m happy that I handled the challenge well and won,” Zverev said after the victory. “The final? I hope to play a great match on Sunday. The atmosphere is always fantastic, the French public is always inside the match.”
Fate therefore wanted Arnaldi’s dream to be interrupted before he even took the court for the semifinal, after a run that had the resounding. The Ligurian tennis player, who started as No. 104 in the ATP rankings, had accumulated nearly 20 hours of play by eliminating in order Griekspoor, Tsitsipas, Collignon, Tiafoe and Berrettini, the latter of whom was forced to retire due to injury in the quarterfinals. Just a few days ago, Arnaldi had commented in disbelief on his own Parisian adventure, “I can’t believe it…a month ago I was playing the Challenger in Cagliari.”
