Vinay Kumar
PARIS: The last 48 hours have been a roller-coaster ride for the world No.14 Flavio Cobolli.He reached his first Roland Garros semi-final after rallying past fourth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarter-finals and was due to face friend and compatriot Matteo Arnaldi in the first all-Italian men’s semi-final 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 semi-final. There is no telling how that will affect the Italian when he takes on the French Open’s No.2 seed Alexander Zverev, who will be playing his fourth major final. Cobolli has not been tested physically, having lost just two sets en route to the title match, he’ll be fresh, but the unusual circumstances could also leave him emotionally flat.Cobolli’s season gathered momentum in February when he won the ATP 500 title in Acapulco, and his run in Paris has lifted him to No. 10 in the Live Rankings.“I’m really happy for the result that I reached this week. My dad came to me and we had a big hug together with the whole team for achieving the top 10. Every time that I make the best ranking, we all together have a big hug. We did the same routine,” he explained. “Now I’m sad and happy at the same time.”The numbers are largely in favour of the 6 ft 6’ German, heading into the final. Zverev is 39-1 against players ranked outside the Top 10 at Roland Garros since 2018, his lone defeat coming against No. 75 Jannik Sinner in 2020. He also owns a 3-1 head-to-head record against the 24-year-old Cobolli.What may encourage the Italian is that they have split their two meetings this year, both of which were played on clay.Zverev, meanwhile, is 0-3 in Grand Slam finals and lost two of those title matches after finding himself in strong positions. In his maiden major final at the 2020 US Open against Dominic Thiem, he led by two sets to love before eventually falling short.“That was the time when I had real struggles with my serve, I knew that my serve can break down at any moment. That’s one difference I feel now,” the 29-year-old said. “I was up two sets to love, I was a break up, I was serving for the match, and it didn’t happen. That’s in the past, and I’ll try not to think too much about it.”
