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Italy’s Flavio Cobolli reacts after winning the quarterfinal tennis match against Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime at the French Open in Paris, Wednesday, June 3, 2026.<\/p>\n
Aurelien Morissard\/AP Photo\/Aurelien Morissard<\/p>\n
Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi reacts during the quarterfinal tennis match against Italy’s Matteo Berrettini at the French Open in Paris, Wednesday, June 3, 2026.<\/p>\n
Christophe Ena\/AP Photo\/Christophe Ena<\/p>\n
Fans hold an Italian flag during the quarterfinal tennis match between Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime and Italy’s Flavio Cobolli at the French Open in Paris, Wednesday, June 3, 2026.<\/p>\n
Aurelien Morissard\/AP Photo\/Aurelien Morissard<\/p>\n
Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassimee wipes his face during the quarterfinal tennis match against Italy’s Flavio Cobolli at the French Open in Paris, Wednesday, June 3, 2026.<\/p>\n
Emma Da Silva\/AP Photo\/Emma Da Silva<\/p>\n
Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi, left, talks to Italy’s Matteo Berrettini who withdrw because of an injury during the quarterfinal tennis match at the French Open in Paris, Wednesday, June 3, 2026.<\/p>\n
Christophe Ena\/AP Photo\/Christophe Ena<\/p>\n
PARIS (AP) \u2014 An Italian man will be in the French Open final and it\u2019s not Jannik Sinner.<\/p>\n
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Not Lorenzo Musetti, either.<\/p>\n
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Flavio Cobolli will play fellow Italian Matteo Arnaldi on Friday in the first Grand Slam semifinal for both players.<\/p>\n
Cobolli beat Felix Auger-Aliassime 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 and Arnaldi advanced when Matteo Berrettini, yet another Italian, retired because of an injury to his left hip with Arnaldi leading 7-5, 5-2 on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Berrettini had received treatment during a medical timeout earlier in the second set.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to be happy for Italian tennis,\u201d Cobolli said.<\/p>\n
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While Sinner and Musetti were both in the last four a year ago, they were on opposite sides of the draw, meaning it will mark the first all-Italian men\u2019s semifinal in Grand Slam history.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been exactly 50 years since an Italian man won the French Open and 1976 champion Adriano Panatta was asked before the tournament to present the Coupe des Mousquetaires trophy this year.<\/p>\n
Cobolli comes from the same tennis club in Rome as Panatta, the Tennis Club Parioli.<\/p>\n
Arnaldi said he first played Cobolli in the Italian under-14 championship: \u201cWe are good friends.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Second-seeded Alexander Zverev and No. 26 Jakub Mensik will meet in the other semifinal.<\/p>\n
While Italian tennis is booming, the 14th-ranked Cobolli, No. 104 Arnaldi and No. 105 Berrettini were not the Azzurri expected to get this far.<\/p>\n
Top-ranked Sinner came to Paris on a 29-match winning streak and seemed destined to take the title after wasting three match points in the final against Carlos Alcaraz last year.<\/p>\n
Musetti didn\u2019t make it back to Roland Garros this year due to an injury.<\/p>\n
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But Cobolli, who at 24 is the same age as Sinner and Musetti, has dropped just two sets in five matches.<\/p>\n
On a windy day inside Court Philippe-Chatrier, Auger-Aliassime whiffed on an overhead during the very first point of the match and also appeared disturbed when loud music was turned on accidentally over the stadium speakers during a key point later in the third set.<\/p>\n
Still, the Canadian won the opening set \u2014 after which Cobolli left the court to regain his composure.<\/p>\n
\u201cI went to the toilet to think a bit, to change something,\u201d Cobolli said. \u201cI just said to myself to fight, because I felt like this is the chance of my life and I have to give everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Cobolli was a talented soccer player and a member of Roma\u2019s youth club until he decided to focus full-time on tennis. He was invited to join Paris Saint-Germain players when they brought soccer’s Champions League trophy onto the tennis court earlier in the week.<\/p>\n
No matter the result of his semifinal, Cobolli will enter the top 10 of the rankings for the first time next week. He could even have a trophy of his own to bring home.<\/p>\n
This, Cobolli said, is \u201cthe best week of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nadal\u2019s shower<\/p>\n
Cobolli, who acknowledges that he\u2019s superstitious, has been doing the same routine after every match.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThis week I\u2019m a little bit more crazy,\u201d he said, \u201cI just go same restaurant, same menu, same shower.\u201d<\/p>\n
The shower he\u2019s referring to in the French Open locker room was the one that record 14-time Roland Garros champion Rafael Nadal used to use.<\/p>\n
Cobolli once stepped into the shower and Nadal showed up and told him to get moving.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told me that it was his shower since 14 years,\u201d Cobolli said with a laugh.<\/p>\n
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Auger-Aliassime down after loss<\/p>\n
Auger-Aliassime, who at No. 4 was the highest-seeded player remaining in the top half of the draw, said he was \u201cdestroyed\u201d by the defeat.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m in a place right now with my tennis career that it\u2019s tough,\u201d he said. \u201cI feel like I\u2019m not the player I want to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Doubles success, too<\/p>\n
As the crowd started filing into Court Philippe-Chatrier for the Arnaldi-Berrettini match, the arena\u2019s announcer started talking in Italian: \u201cBuongiorno e benvenuto a tutti a Roland Garros\u201d \u2013 \u201cHello and welcome everyone to Roland Garros.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u201cLes Italiens,\u201d as they are referred to in French, are doing well not just in singles.<\/p>\n
Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori will play in the mixed doubles final on Thursday and Vavassori and Simone Bolelli have advanced to the semifinals in men\u2019s doubles.<\/p>\n
Italy\u2019s tennis success has come in sharp contrast to the struggles of its national soccer team, which failed to qualify for a third straight World Cup. The Azzurri soccer team played a lowly friendly against Luxembourg on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
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