TEverything is ready at Philippe-Chatrier in Paris for the semi-final of Roland Garros 2026 which sees two Italians clash: Flavio Cobolli and Matteo Arnaldi. An all-blue match that will decide the finalist of the prestigious French Open. The first match that will assign a place in the final is the one between Sascha Zverev and Jakub Mensik on the pitch at 2.30pm. Afterwards, not before 7pm, it will be time for the Italian derby: the winner will play the final scheduled for Sunday 7 June.
Flavio Cobolli and Matteo Arnaldi the match, where you can see it free-to-air on TV today
The second semi-final that will be played tonight at Roland Garros 2026 is all Italian. Flavio Cobollin.14 in the ranking, will challenge Matteo Arnaldi, at number 104 of the ATP rankings. The two tennis players will compete a place in the final of one of the most prestigious slams ever.
Flavio Cobolli gained the pass to the semi-final by beating the Canadian Auger-Aliassime in 4 sets with the score 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. Matteo Arnaldi instead qualified in another derby, against Matteo Berrettini, which ended during the second set due to an injury suffered by the former Roman tennis player number 6 in the world.
The Cobolli-Arnaldi match will be a historic semi-final since it’s about the first played between two Italians in a Slam. For both blues in the event of victory today, it would be the first final of a Major tournament.
The semi-final of Roland Garros 2026 between Matteo Arnaldi and Flavio Cobolli it will be broadcast free-to-air on Nove starting from 7.00 pmwith pre-match from 6.30pm. The match will also be broadcast for a fee on Eurosportdistributed both through the group’s streaming platforms (HBO Max and Discovery+) and through third-party operators such as Dazn, Timvision and Prime Video.
Matteo Arnaldi at Roland Garros 2026. (Getty Images)
Who are Matteo Arnaldi and Flavio Cobolli
Born in Rome in 2002, Flavio Cobolli is coached by his father Stefanoalso a former professional player. Concentrated on tactical intelligence and style, the tennis player loves to surround himself with his historic group of friends off the court Romans, ironically nicknamed “the Bulls”. Cobolli entered the world top 10 a few days ago, the culmination of a record-breaking season who saw it triumph in the Davis Cup in 2025. Victories also in the Hamburg and Bucharest tournaments, until the incredible Parisian semi-final reached after beating Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Matteo Arnaldi, on the other hand, was born in Sanremo (like Fabio Fognini) in 2001 and he has a past as a swimmer, inherited from his father Fabriziobanking team manager. Engaged to the model Mia SavioArnaldi is in great condition after an injury on the foot. Problem that affected him for months, before starting the clay court season and find the best condition.
After passing the quarterfinals, Cobolli spoke like this about his alleged rivalry in the press conference with Arnaldi. «Since we were little we have had a great rivalry on the pitch but as soon as we leave the field we are friends.” To then continue «We spend a lot of time together. We have been training together since we were 11-12 years old. I hope it’s a good battle but also a good match to watch.”