Flavio Cobolli will compete in the first Grand Slam final of his career this Sunday, facing Alexander Zverev for the Roland Garros title.
It marks the culmination of a sensational and completely unprecedented tournament, laden with crazy shocks. It’s only right that such an unlikely final should be the conclusion.
However, ahead of what is undeniably the most important match of the Italian’s career to date, Sloane Stephens was left stunned by one decision he decided to make.
“That doesn’t make any sense to me at all,” she told TNT Sports, after watching Flavio Cobolli sit just metres away from his ill compatriot Matteo Arnaldi.
Sloane Stephens left stunned by ‘strange’ Flavio Cobolli decision
Speaking before the reason for his withdrawal had been confirmed, Andre Agassi expressed his disappointment with such an unexciting outcome.
He stated: “I could have beaten Arnaldi today at 56 years old. If you don’t show up, you can’t win, and it’s just disappointing.
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“Obviously he’s dealing with something that better be unimaginable, because it is a disappointment.”
The feed then cut to Arnaldi’s inexplicable joint press conference with Cobolli.
Stephens was stunned, claiming: “Why would they be sitting anywhere near each other? FaceTime him, call him. You never see a bus conference with two players anyway, so why would we do that for one?
“I’m a germaphobe. I would be like, get away from me. Like, don’t even breathe the same air I’m breathing. And obviously, if he’s vomiting, and, like, it’s contagious, a viral illness, whatever it is, we don’t need to know.
“No one on your team needs to be near him, and, you know, Italians are very lovey-dovey. They’re hugging, they’re doing all this, rubbing heads, the whole thing. Like, we don’t need to even be interacting if that’s the case, especially for Cobolli, who’s now through; that doesn’t make any sense to me at all.”
At that presser, Cobolli admitted he nearly cried when Arnaldi told him he’d be withdrawing. Let’s hope that his proximity to the 25-year-old does not prove fatal ahead of Sunday’s final.
Flavio Cobolli’s career record in finals
It’s difficult to gauge how players will perform in their first Grand Slam final.
Therefore, the next best metric is how successful a player has been in other finals, regardless of the level.
Cobolli has reached five ATP Tour-level finals in his career, and boasts a 60% win rate.
His first saw him lose to Seb Korda in the final of the 2024 Washington Open, before he then enjoyed a run of three straight wins in finals, claiming titles in Romania, Hamburg and Mexico.
| Year | Event | Opponent | Result |
| 2026 | Munich Open | Ben Shelton | Loss |
| 2026 | Mexican Open | Frances Tiafoe | Win |
| 2025 | Hamburg Open | Andrey Rublev | Win |
| 2025 | Tiriac Open | Sebastian Baez | Win |
| 2024 | Washington Open | Seb Korda | Loss |
However, most recently, he lost to Ben Shelton in the final in Munich, but did beat Zverev en route to that stage.
Cobolli’s best-ever tournament triumph is at the ATP 500 level, making the jump up to Sunday’s Roland Garros final a huge one.
