The second semi-final at Roland Garros was not even played this year after Matteo Arnaldi was unable to take to the court.
Arnaldi withdrew from his semi-final against Flavio Cobolli due to a viral illness, just hours before the match was scheduled to take place.
There has understandably been a huge reaction to this, with Cobolli admitting he nearly cried after Arnaldi withdrew, something he said in their joint press conference.
The two players were sat far apart for this press conference, but both Andrea Petkovic and Brad Gilbert have called out Roland Garros for making this happen.
Andrea Petkovic and Brad Gilbert criticise Matteo Arnaldi and Flavio Cobolli press conference
When discussing the news of Arnaldi’s withdrawal, former top 10 player Petkovic questioned the decision from Roland Garros to make them both do this, as Cobolli now plays Alexander Zverev in the Roland Garros final.
Coco Gauff’s former coach, Gilbert, was also critical of Roland Garros for setting up this press conference, as he called it ‘beyond ridiculous’.
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“One thing I have to say, at the press conference, they had Flavio Cobolli with Matteo Arnaldi at the desk,” Petkovic said on The Big T Podcast.
“Can you explain to me why like they showed up, the camera was on a close up on Matteo Arnaldi and then they panned out and you could see, yes they had kept a distance of I want to say six to eight feet between the two, but Flavio Cobolli is just sitting at the other corner of the desk and then they also made Flavio address Matteo in Italian.
“It was the weirdest thing and I kept yelling at the TV, why is Cobolli there? Why are we putting him in the same room as somebody who was just talking about having thrown up all night?”
Gilbert followed by saying, “I mean beyond ridiculous, Andrea, that first of all you bring him over to do press, that means he came in the locker room. Did they not see what happened in Madrid when players were getting sick?
“You know, when you get in close quarters you got to be careful. And I got to be honest, I got to tell you when I was a coach or a player, I was always conscious of this. In 2024, I was coaching Coco at the Australian Open and on the first day of the tournament I got sick and then I quarantined myself, I wore a mask, I didn’t even sit in the box. They were thinking it’s going to be okay, no I don’t want to take the risk of getting her sick.
“You need to be that careful, especially at the business end. Obviously, this sounds like a really rough break that happened, but there was absolutely no reason that they should have been sitting on the same table and they brought him in the locker room. I mean, it’s like okay we got two more matches to go here, we don’t need any more bad luck!”
Petkovic added, “It was really strange, I don’t know what they were thinking. I understand the human gesture of it. You know, the two are friends and I understand that part completely, but as you exactly said BG, there is another match to be played.
“There is Alexander Zverev, by far the best player of this tournament, waiting in the final and you are risking it all to have a human gesture, I’m sure they can text! You know, we have digital media now that you can get in contact with.”
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How many times have players withdrew from Grand Slam semi-finals?
Arnaldi withdrawing from his Roland Garros semi-final is a major moment in tennis history, as it is just the third time an ATP player has not taken to the court in the Open Era.
The first time that this happened was at the 1992 Australian Open, when Richard Krajicek withdrew from his semi-final against eventual champion Jim Courier.
This did not happen again for another 30 years, when Rafael Nadal withdrew from his Wimbledon semi-final against Nick Kyrgios, who lost in the final.
Cobolli will be hoping to be more like Courier when he plays in the Roland Garros final against Zverev this year.
This will be a fourth career meeting between the two players, with Zverev leading the head-to-head against Cobolli 3-1.
