Roland Garros, Arnaldi and Cobolli reach the semifinals for history: "It's the chance of a lifetime."

The court has given its verdict. It will be an Italian derby in the semifinals of Roland Garros, and the match on Friday, June 5th, will be between Flavio Cobolli and Matteo Arnaldi. Today, the Roman tennis player defeated Felix Auger-Aliassime in his quarterfinal, while the Sanremo native earned a spot in the penultimate round of the Parisian Grand Slam following Matteo Berrettini's tearful withdrawal. This means there will once again be an Italian player on court in the Roland Garros final on Sunday, June 7th.  

Cobolli defeated Canadian Felix Auger Aliassime, the fourth-seeded player in the draw, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. After losing the first set in a match initially affected by the wind, Cobolli turned things around in the second set after the roof closed on Court Philippe Chatrier. The Italian, down a break, reeled off four straight games to tie the score at 6-4. In the third set, the tie was broken in the seventh game, with Flavio breaking and then closing out the score at 6-4 for the win. "Today was a different story," the Italian explained after the match. "In the first set, it was very windy and it was difficult to play. I went to the bathroom to think, to try to change something. I had to fight; I thought it was the chance of a lifetime. It's the best week of my life. Something's missing; I'll have to fight again." 

In the other quarterfinal, Berrettini retired after losing the first set against Arnaldi (7-5) due to a muscle strain. The Sanremo native will therefore play the Roland Garros semifinal against Cobolli: "We both played a lot," Arnaldi said after the match. "It's normal not to be at your best. You never want a tournament to end like this for a player. I hope Matteo recovers quickly and is ready for the grass season. Have I played 17 hours so far? I'm tired, for sure. But I train and play to play these tournaments and these matches. Today I was more tired than usual; I wasn't as fast on court as I was in the first matches of the tournament. Until recently, I was sidelined by injury, but now I'm here and enjoying the moment. A month ago, I was world number 150 and playing the Cagliari Challenger, now I'm here and playing in the semifinals of a Grand Slam." There was also time for a joke about the derby with Cobolli: "We'll spend a lot of time together, maybe not at dinner tomorrow. Last year he won here in four sets, but we've faced each other many times." 

(Adnkronos)