French Open: Alexander Zverev, Flavio Cobolli bid to end Grand Slam title wait

PARIS: The last 48 hours have been a roller-coaster ride for world No. 14 Flavio Cobolli. He reached his first Roland Garros semifinal after rallying past fourth seed Felix AugerAliassime in the quarterfinals and was due to face friend and compatriot Matteo Arnaldi in the first all-Italian men’s semifinal at any Grand Slam.While the Italian media was abuzz with anticipation, Arnaldi withdrew from the last four with a viral illness.The announcement reduced Cobolli to tears while also sending him into his first major final without having struck a ball in the semifinal. There is no telling how that will affect the Italian when he takes on second seed Alexander Zverev, who will be playing his fourth major final.

The numbers are largely in favour of the 6ft-6in German heading into the final. Zverev is 39-1 against players ranked outside the Top 10 at Roland Garros since 2018, his only defeat coming against then world No. 75 Jannik Sinner in 2020.He also owns a 3-1 head-tohead record against 24-year-old Cobolli. What may encourage the Italian is that they have split their two meetings this year, both played on clay.Zverev, meanwhile, is 0-3 in Grand Slam finals.