Andre Agassi is the latest big-name pundit to offer his thoughts on the outstanding news to have emerged from Roland Garros today.
Matteo Arnaldi will not be competing in his semi-final match against Flavio Cobolli tonight, having withdrawn from the tournament.
It marks a devastating outcome for both players and the event, which has therefore been forced to cull their night session.
It marks a sad end to an otherwise exceptional run for Arnaldi, with even Cobolli expressing his sadness over this news.
Andre Agassi was similarly disappointed, but swiftly moved on to analysing Sunday’s upcoming showpiece final.
Andre Agassi previews the men’s Roland Garros final: Alexander Zverev vs Flavio Cobolli
Speaking on the US TNT Sports live broadcast, he assessed the Italian’s chances of success in the Roland Garros final.
Agassi admitted: “About six weeks ago, Cobolli finding a way over that finish line against him.
Who will win the 2026 French Open final – Alexander Zverev or Flavio Cobolli?
Vote now!
“I mean, if there’s anything that can put doubt in somebody’s mind, you know, it’s the fact that you lost to this person last time you played on the same surface. I mean, granted, Munich is a little quicker, it’s gonna be a little harder to dictate against Sascha with the slower, heavier conditions, but obviously, Cobolli has firepower to do it.
“He has the movement to do it. I think he has a chance at making this one hell of a final. I mean, he’s certainly gonna make Zverev feel like he has to earn that.”
The American also favoured Cobolli due to his unflinching ability to stick to a game plan with great conviction.
Agassi added: “I think it’s also fair to say that in tennis, it’s better to have the wrong game plan with total conviction than the right game plan that you’re questioning.
“And I don’t think Cobolli’s gonna go out on that court and be questioning what it is he’s gonna be trying to do. He’s gonna be playing with total conviction.
“I mean, the guy moves well enough to defend, to get the ball back, to make Zverev hit a lot of good shots that win a point. You can push him around, if Zverev starts leaving that forehand a little nervous and sitting up. He likes to play like a Spanish player. He’s gonna try to dictate with forehands, but don’t underestimate his backhand. He can stay backhand to backhand with Zverev and wait to go to his forehand to get the shot he wants.
“I think we’re gonna see some fun tennis.”
Sam Querrey gives Flavio Cobolli a good chance against Alexander Zverev
The main reason behind most pundits’ relative confidence in Cobolli comes from his most recent meeting with Alexander Zverev, beating him in the Munich semi-finals.
And that is exactly what spearheaded Sam Querrey’s analysis, who stated on that same broadcast: “Yeah, look, they’ve played twice actually in the last six weeks, so they’re familiar with each other. One went Cobolli’s way, one went Zverev’s way; both have been lopsided scores. Cobolli beat him three and three, then Zverev beat him one and four, but that one win, that’s gonna give Cobolli a little bit of confidence. It’s gonna put a little bit of doubt in the mind of Zverev.
How impressed have you been by Alexander Zverev at Roland Garros?
He's into another French Open final…
“I think for Cobolli, he did play a big serving FAA in the previous round, he’s now gonna go up against a better serve probably in Zverev, and Zverev’s obviously got better groundstrokes, he’s a better player than Felix, but he at least got a little look at that serve coming from a guy who’s about six feet six in the last round.”
Zverev has said whether he’s now more worried about Cobolli given he will now have an extra day off, instead insisting that he could have played again tonight if needed.
