French Open: Cobolli in the final against Zverev – Arnaldi withdraws

French Open in Paris

Without a match: Zverev’s opponent in the final has already been determined

The Italians Flavio Cobolli and Matteo Arnaldi were actually supposed to play for a place in the final in Paris. But even before the semi-finals for the two of them, everything turned out completely differently.

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. 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.