Flavio Cobolli advances into French Open final against Alexander Zverev after Matteo Arnaldi withdraws from semi-final - Reaction to shock news

Cobolli and Arnaldi were set to meet in an all-Italian semi-final after Zverev beat Jakub Mensik to advance to the final.

However, Arnaldi, who spent 19 hours and 42 minutes on court at the Grand Slam, pulled out before facing Cobolli at Roland-Garros on Friday evening.

Cobolli will contest his first Grand Slam final against Zverev from 14:00 UK time on Sunday, June 7.

Zverev is bidding to win his first major, having lost in three previous finals, including the 2024 French Open final to Carlos Alcaraz.

He leads the head-to-head record 3-1 against Cobolli, although they split their matches on clay this season in Madrid and Munich.

Arnaldi's withdrawal is just the fourth at this stage of a Grand Slam in the Open era, in either the men's or women's draw, and the first since Rafael Nadal pulled out of Wimbledon in 2022 before facing Nick Kyrgios.

Explaining his "tough" decision, Arnaldi said: "At dinner I started to feel so-so with my stomach. I was like, ‘Alright, I just didn’t digest very well.’

”But then I woke up at 1am and started vomiting and I wasn’t feeling the best. I then tried to sleep but couldn’t sleep at all.

”At 6-7am I vomited again. This time it was pretty bad. We called the doctor in the room. He came, gave me some stuff and I was hoping it would just be something from dinner or something like that.

”But throughout the day I couldn’t eat, every time I did something or drank, I would go back to the bathroom.

”It’s tough. Considering how the tournament was, and how many hours I’d spent on court I was feeling pretty good.

”To have to withdraw from the first Grand Slam semi-final is not something you’d wish on anybody.

”I tried to get ready and see if I could get on court, but every time I get up I feel dizzy and I don’t feel the best, and I’m pretty sure if I eat again I’m not going to feel good. That was the right decision for me to take.”

Arnaldi had made an unexpected run in Paris to reach his first major semi-final.

At No. 104 in the world rankings he was the lowest-ranked man to get this far at the Grand Slam since 1997. But his exertions appear to have taken their toll.

He benefited from a retirement in the quarter-finals against fellow Italian Matteo Berrettini but before that he had won back-to-back five-set matches.

Cobolli admitted he "almost cried" when his compatriot revealed he would not be able to contest their semi-final.

”It’s tough for me to speak," Cobolli said, in their joint press conference. "When he came to me an hour ago, I almost cried. It’s something that you do not at all expect.

”I was ready to play this match. And when he [told me] I was sad for him.

"But at the same time, of course, I’m really happy with what I have achieved this week.”

Speaking to TNT Sports, former world No.1 John McEnroe speculated whether Arnaldi's marathon run to the semi-finals had "caught up with him" before his encounter with Cobolli.

”It sucks," McEnroe said. "That’s the bottom line.

"I’m no doctor but I think it caught up with him. The guy had played more tennis to get to the semis than anyone had ever played in this event. Combine that with some nerves and some bad luck, or the wrong food, and we’ve got to sit here and talk about it.

”I was amazed that Arnaldi bounced back as well as he did after the Tiafoe match to be honest. He played five-and-a-half hours. He played a couple of marathon matches.”

Meanwhile, former British No.1 Tim Henman labelled the situation a ”nightmare” for Arnaldi, Cobolli, and the tournament.

”It’s so sad, so disappointing, so anti-climatic”, Henman said. ”First and foremost, for Arnaldi, he's worked so hard, you know. For Cobolli, it's a really bizarre scenario. There are times, you know, when you, early on in a small tournament, you get a walkover and you sort of say, ‘Oh well.’ You’re disappointed to get through in these circumstances but, actually, you're quite pleased because you get a day off.

”But semis of a Grand Slam for both of them, it's just it's really a nightmare and it's a nightmare for the fans, it's a nightmare for the tournament. They've got that one match in the evening session and it doesn't take place. You just feel so awful.”

Former Roland-Garros finalist Alex Corretja added that it is a "weird situation" and manner for Cobolli to have made the final.

Corretja told TNT Sports: ”Arnaldi is as sensitive a person as Flavio [Cobolli] is. Maybe sometimes there are players or people that maybe they don't care about situations that much, but Flavio is someone who is very, very cute with his friends. He’s very emotional, very friendly.

"So I absolutely understand his feeling and, at the same time, it's kind of weird. First time top ten, first time reaching the Roland-Garros finals. So he needs to just say ‘Okay, it's not my fault, nothing I can do’. So we just the best to Arnaldi.”

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