Alexander Zverev meets Flavio Cobolli in the French Open final.
The Italian reached Sunday’s final against Hamburg without a fight because his compatriot Matteo Arnaldi withdrew at short notice for the semi-final scheduled for Friday evening due to a virus infection. The organizers of Roland Garros announced this less than half an hour before the planned duel on the Court Philippe-Chatrier.
“It’s hard to have to withdraw from the first Grand Slam semi-final. You wouldn’t wish that on anyone,” said Arnaldi at a press conference, where he answered the questions at some distance from Cobolli: “I’m sorry for everyone who bought a ticket.” But he is “happy” for his compatriot.
When the news reached him, he “almost cried,” said Cobolli: “You don’t expect something like that. I was ready to play the semi-finals. I’m very sad for him.”
Zverev, who reached his second final in Paris with a 7:5, 6:2, 3:6, 6:3 against Jakub Mensik from the Czech Republic, beat Cobolli in the third round of Roland Garros last year.
On the way to the semi-finals, Arnaldi spent a total of 19:42 hours on the court – longer than any other French Open player since 1991.