Cobolli beats Svajda in 4 sets and flies to the quarterfinals of Roland Garros

Flavio dreams. “Dreaming is never wrong and many people dream here”. Flavio dreams, and he does well. Because, match after match, his candidacy in this Roland Garros orphaned by Sinner and Alcaraz acquires more and more legitimacy. Meanwhile he flew to the quarterfinals – the second of his career in a Slam after Wimbledon 2025 – losing just one set. And today’s victory, against the American outsider Zachary Svajda, means a lot, especially because it came after the blow of the previous round against Tien, in one of those “litmus tests” that in the past the Italians often failed. If on Saturday Cobolli had broken the ice with the success of a Slam against Centrale, in his second performance against Philippe Chatrier he was less continuous but was able to keep his nerve when his opponent tried to reopen the match: 6-2 6-3 6-7(3) 7-6(5) in 3 hours and 15 minutes of play. The earth is his natural habitat and that of Paris exalts him, because here his attacking shots fly away like a beauty. For the first two sets against Svajda it was like this: when he took command of operations, the 24-year-old Roman relied sometimes on the intensity of the pace, sometimes on the variety of solutions. Now the Italian awaits the winner of the match between the Canadian Auger-Aliassime and the Chilean Tabilo in the quarterfinals, scheduled for Wednesday. Thanks to the points gained today, Flavio has virtually risen to 11th place in the world ranking, his new best ranking. If he were to reach the semi-finals, he would enter the Top 10 (but watch out, from the back, for Jodar, Fonseca and Mensik).

the match

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Svajda is the big surprise of these French Open. The 23-year-old Californian, who skipped his youth training because he couldn’t afford to travel, showed up in Paris with just one victory at ATP level on clay and a ranking of number 85 in the world. In the last round he beat Francisco Cerundolo in five sets – the most important success of his career – but Flavio is made of different stuff. He doesn’t waste opportunities, on the contrary. The first set goes by quickly: the blue is master of the court. The second set was more complicated, also because Svajda took courage and played more aggressively. At the hour mark, Flavio concedes the first break points. He cancels all three, bringing home a rather complicated fourth game, closed with a bunt, confirming the variety of the arsenal at his disposal. At that point the blue levels up. He breaks the American’s serve for 4-3, keeps the serve at 15 and places the double break with two gems: a passing backhand split and an acceleration of the forehand down the line. He thus plays four consecutive games and closes the set at 6-3. Svajda, however, doesn’t give up: he conquers the break to zero at the beginning of the third set, immediately gets back on track but then keeps the Italian on his toes for the entire set, improving his service performance. At 5-5 and 30 all, Flavio saves himself: a forehand winner from the American narrowly misses the mark. In the tie-break, however, the inertia leans on Svajda’s side, who plays loosely and puts her feet inside the court: 3-1, 5-2, 7-3. Flavio reacts very well, with an immediate break in the fourth set to re-establish the law of the strongest. The double break also arrives for the blue, who after two and a half hours still jumps like a cat from one side of the court to the other and finds depth in his shots. At 3-0 the Italian cancels two break points, at 5-2 he goes to serve for the match, goes up 30-0 but is surprised by the American, who becomes threatening again: 5-4. Now it’s no longer a joke. It’s the second chance at serve to close the game: Flavio finds himself 15-30, manages to get a match point, but shoots the forehand. Svajda pushes, plays with nothing to lose and completes the comeback. We go to the tie break again. Svajda commits a double fault, nullifying the initial advantage, at 4-4 Cobolli places the mini break but the first serve continues to betray him: 5-5. Flavio goes up 6-5 and the second match point is played on the return: great recovery and winning passer.