French Open in Paris
Bitter end: injury drama for tennis star
June 3, 2026 – 11:22 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
In the duel of the “Matteos”, Matteo Berrettini experiences a sad evening in Paris. His opponent finds clear words.
Flavio Cobolli and Matteo Arnaldi contest the first Italian semi-final at a Grand Slam. On Wednesday at the French Open, Cobolli first defeated the world number six Félix Auger-Aliassime from Canada 4:6, 6:4, 6:4, 6:4, before Arnaldi followed in the evening in a duel with Matteo Berrettini with a score of 7:5, 5:2 due to a forfeit by his compatriot in the round of the last four.
“I realized that it was the chance of a lifetime,” said Cobolli, who is in the semi-finals of a Grand Slam for the first time, after his victory: “I am very happy.”
In the seventh attempt, Cobolli celebrated his first win at a major against an opponent ranked in the top ten. Auger-Aliassime, who along with Alexander Zverev was the only player from the top ten in the rankings to reach the quarterfinals, missed out on becoming the first Canadian player ever to reach the semi-finals of Roland Garros.
An Italian is now definitely in the final
In windy conditions, Auger-Aliassime secured round one, then the roof over Court Philippe-Chatrier was closed. Given other conditions, Cobolli fought back impressively – and ensured that despite the early elimination of top favorite Jannik Sinner, an Italian will be in the final on Sunday.
In the night session, Arnaldi, number 104 in the world rankings, and Berrettini, number 105, initially dueled on equal terms; the first set lasted 82 minutes. In the second round, however, Berrettini’s dream of the first semi-final at Roland Garros was dashed due to an injury.
“He played an incredible tournament,” said Arnaldi, who reached a Grand Slam semi-final for the first time, to Berrettini: “I’m sorry for him. I hope he recovers