French Open 2026: Flavio Cobolli stuns Felix Auger-Aliassime, reaches semi-finals
What's the story
Flavio Cobolli made history by reaching his first-ever major semi-final at the ongoing Roland Garros tournament. The 24-year-old Italian stunned fourth-seeded Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime in a thrilling quarter-final match on Wednesday. The match, played under the roof on Court Philippe-Chatrier, saw Cobolli come from behind to win 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. It was a solid victory for the Italian against the 4th seed Canadian.
Match analysis
Cobolli praises Court Philippe-Chatrier after victory
After the match, Cobolli reflected on the windy conditions of the first set and how he had to adjust his strategy. He said, "I think we played two different matches today. The first set was incredibly windy and tough to play," Cobolli said. The Italian also praised Court Philippe-Chatrier as "This is the best court I have played on in my life because I can bring my best tennis."
Path to victory
Impressive journey to the semi-finals
Cobolli's journey to the semi-finals has been impressive. He didn't drop a set in his first three matches at Paris and overcame Zachary Svajda in a tense fourth-round match. The Italian showed great footwork and played well on pressure points, winning 10 of 14 30/30 points in the match against Auger-Aliassime. This was his first win over a Top 10 opponent at a major tournament (1-6).
Semi-final showdown
Cobolli set to face fellow Italian Matteo Arnaldi in semi-finals
Cobolli, now ranked No. 10 in the ATP Live Rankings, will face Matteo Arnaldi in the semi-finals. Notably, Arnaldi became the lowest-ranked player to reach the men's singles semi-final at Roland Garros since Filip Dewulf (#122) in 1997. This is a historic moment as it guarantees an all-Italian men's major semi-final for the first time ever. Cobolli has won three tour-level trophies so far, two of which were on clay in Hamburg and Bucharest.
Do you know?
Cobolli makes these records
As per Opta, Cobolli is the first player to claim each of his first four career ATP top 10 wins on clay since Dominic Thiem in 2016. Meanwhile, multiple players (Flavio Cobolli and Jakub Mensik) have achieved a maiden men'ss ingles Grand Slam semi-final at Roland Garros for the first time since 2010 (Jurgen Melzer and Tomas Berdych).