Flavio Cobolli after Roland Garros: beaten to Zverev and near tears
Flavio Cobolli surrendered to Sascha Zverev in the historic Roland Garros final, which lasted five sets and ended with wild cheering for him from the Paris crowd. And the Tuscan tennis player on the one hand wanted to thank his own fans from the bottom of his heart, and on the other he congratulated his colleague, even dedicating a warm-hearted joke to him after the defeat.
“Now it’s not easy for me to talk, but I’ll start with you,” Cobolli said addressing Zverev. “If they had asked me who I thought deserved more than the others to win Roland Garros, I would have answered Sascha. I am happy for you, although of course there is sadness that it was really close. You’ve fulfilled your dream, now let me win next time.”
After smiling with Zverev, then, Cobolli turned to Panatta: “Roland Garros is my favorite Slam, I used to watch it all the time even when you were not here. And to have you here was an honor for me, even if you put some pressure on me. In any case, these have been the best weeks of my life, and I want to thank the fans who always tried to help me during the game. I cannot look at you, otherwise I will cry.”
A defeat that stings, but does not erase the extraordinary feat accomplished by the Roman in these two Parisian weeks. Cobolli succumbed with the score of 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-1 at the end of a battle that lasted 4 hours and 20 minutes, in which he was able to pick himself up several times after moments of difficulty, dragging the final to the fifth set with a tie-break snatched in the fourth partial thanks to a magnificent straight forehand pass. In the deciding set, however, Zverev got off to an overwhelming start, quickly taking a 3-0 lead with two breaks and leaving no more room for the Italian, who also experienced some difficulties in lateral moves in the closing stages.
Despite the defeat, for Cobolli comes important satisfaction on the world ranking front. As of Monday, the Roman will enter the ATP Top 10 for the first time, settling right at number 10 in the ranking, while in the Race to the ATP Finals in Turin he will rise to fourth place, behind Jannik Sinner, Alexander Zverev himself and Carlos Alcaraz. It is a result that certifies the extraordinary growth of a player who arrived at this final as world number 14.
Cobolli’s path to the final act of Roland Garros was one of anthology. The Roman overcame in order Andrea Pellegrino, Wu Yibing, Learner Tien, Zachary Svajda and Felix Auger-Aliassime, before making it to the final thanks to the withdrawal of compatriot Matteo Arnaldi in the semifinals, who was forced to raise the white flag due to an intestinal virus before even taking the court. It was precisely to Arnaldi, the protagonist of an extraordinary tournament starting from number 104 in the ranking, that Cobolli had dedicated his first words in the press conference after the semifinal.
In the background of this final there was also the figure of Adriano Panatta, the last Italian to triumph in Paris back in 1976. The Roman champion had received a special invitation from the tournament management and was present in the stands of the Philippe-Chatrier, representing both an inspiration and, as Cobolli himself admitted, an additional source of pressure. Fifty years after his historic success, the dream of seeing another Italian lift the Coupe des Mousquetaires stopped just short of completion, but Cobolli’s performance proved that Italian tennis is more alive than ever beyond Sinner.
