Cobolli and – Flavio Cobolli will play Matteo Arnaldi in an all-Italian French Open semifinal after Cobolli defeated Felix Auger-Aliassime 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 and Arnaldi advanced when Matteo Berrettini retired with a left hip injury. The matchup will be the first all-Italia
Paris—Flavio Cobolli knew the moment had his name written on it, even if the score still left room to be hurt.
On a windy Court Philippe-Chatrier, he watched Felix Auger-Aliassime miss on an overhead during the very first point. Later, loud music blared accidentally from the stadium speakers during a key moment of the third set. The disruption didn’t change the stakes—just the atmosphere. When Auger-Aliassime took the opening set, Cobolli stepped away from the court to regain himself.
“I went to the toilet to think a bit, to change something,” Cobolli said. “I just said to myself to fight, because I felt like this is the chance of my life and I have to give everything.”
Cobolli returned and closed it out in four sets, winning 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. On Friday, he will face Matteo Arnaldi in the first Grand Slam semifinal for both players.
Arnaldi’s path to the matchup came on Wednesday, when Matteo Berrettini—yet another Italian—retired because of an injury to his left hip. At the time of the retirement, Arnaldi led 7-5, 5-2. Berrettini had received treatment during a medical timeout earlier in the second set.
The semifinal is more than a personal breakthrough for two players clustered outside the usual spotlight. It sets up the first all-Italian men’s semifinal in Grand Slam history—and it comes with a sense of timing the sport hasn’t seen in decades. Exactly 50 years have passed since an Italian man won the French Open. In 1976, Adriano Panatta was asked before the tournament to present the Coupe des Mousquetaires trophy.
Cobolli’s connection to that legacy is personal as well as symbolic. He comes from the same tennis club in Rome as Panatta, the Tennis Club Parioli.
While Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti were both in the last four a year ago—on opposite sides of the draw—this time the field is reshaped around a different kind of Italian momentum. Cobolli, the 14th-ranked player, will be joined in the semifinals by Arnaldi, No. 104, while Berrettini, No. 105, was the last Italian in that section of the draw before the injury ended his run.
“It’s not Jannik Sinner,” the tournament has already said, and it wasn’t Musetti either. But on Friday, it will be Italian, all the way.
Cobolli, 24, is the same age as both Sinner and Musetti. The difference is how the week has gone: Cobolli has dropped just two sets in five matches. Sinner. the top-ranked player. arrived in Paris on a 29-match winning streak and seemed headed for the title before wasting three match points in the final against Carlos Alcaraz last year. Musetti didn’t return to Roland Garros this year due to an injury.
For Cobolli, the implications go beyond the semifinal. No matter what happens on Friday, he will enter the top 10 of the rankings for the first time next week. He could even come home with a trophy.
“This, Cobolli said, is ‘the best week of my life.’”
Auger-Aliassime, the No. 4 seed and the highest-ranked player remaining in the top half of the draw, said after the loss that the defeat left him facing something harder than one match.
“I’m in a place right now with my tennis career that it’s tough,” Auger-Aliassime said. “I feel like I’m not the player I want to be.”
The evening’s other semifinal will feature Alexander Zverev and No. 26 Jakub Mensik. Mensik will meet Zverev after the German earned his own place in the final four.
Cobolli’s rise has its own texture. Before fully committing to tennis. he was a talented soccer player and a member of Roma’s youth club until he decided to focus full-time on the sport. Earlier in the week. he was invited to join Paris Saint-Germain players when they brought soccer’s Champions League trophy onto the tennis court.
He also leans into routine that looks small until it becomes part of the pressure. He acknowledges he’s superstitious and said that after every match he has been repeating the same routine.
“This week I’m a little bit more crazy,” Cobolli said. “I just go same restaurant, same menu, same shower.”
The shower he referred to in the French Open locker room is one Rafael Nadal used to use, and it came with a story that still makes him laugh. Cobolli said he once stepped into the shower and Nadal appeared, telling him to get moving.
“He told me that it was his shower since 14 years,” Cobolli said with a laugh.
If tennis is booming in Italy, it’s not only happening in the singles bracket. Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori will play in the mixed doubles final on Thursday. Vavassori and Simone Bolelli have also advanced to the semifinals in men’s doubles.
French Open Roland Garros Flavio Cobolli Matteo Arnaldi Felix Auger-Aliassime Matteo Berrettini Rafael Nadal Jannik Sinner Lorenzo Musetti Alexander Zverev Jakub Mensik Italian tennis
All-Italian semifinal at the French Open is wild, like finally something different.
Wait Berrettini retired from a left hip thing?? That’s brutal but also kinda feels like Arnaldi just got handed it. Still good for them though. And the music blaring accidentally?? Like what even is that, lol.
I thought Arnaldi beat someone else, not that Berrettini retired. Half the time these injuries are like “retired” but really it’s a setup or something. Also Cobolli went to the toilet to think?? Bro tennis is already stressful, that’s crazy. Anyway can he actually finish the match if the wind is messing with everything?
French Open and Italian boys in the final four is giving 1976 vibes or whatever. The article says exactly 50 years since an Italian won the French Open, so I’m guessing this is why everyone’s hyped. But windy Court Philippe-Chatrier and stadium music glitching during the third set… like the universe was trolling them. I just want to know if that overhead miss was on purpose or if Felix was just having an off day.