Cobolli Overtakes Auger-Aliassime, Ensures All-Italian Roland-Garros Semifinal

Flavio Cobolli
Flavio Cobolli (photo: Jürgen Hasenkopf)

PARIS/WASHINGTON, June 3, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)

In a battle of Top-10 seeds in the upper half of the French Open men’s draw, No. 10 seed Flavio Cobolli, 24, and No. 4 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, 25, arrived at their quarterfinal match Wednesday in contrasting ways. Through the first four rounds, Cobolli exhibited a sense of flair to offset jitters, while Auger-Aliassime proved to be as steady as steady can be during a major.

Whomever prevailed – and Cobolli had won both of their previous matches – likely would be a favorite to reach Sunday’s final.

As it turned out, it was the World No. 14 Cobolli, who triumphed under the closed roof of Court Philippe-Chatrier. He beat Auger-Aliassime, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, in three hours and 24 minutes to advance to his first major semifinal.

After being broken in three of his first seven service games, Cobolli was lights out for the remainder of this last-eight match. He held his serve 13 consecutive times – winning 20 of his last 23 service points – and never let the World No. 6 Auger-Aliassime back into the match after the first set.

At 5-3 (40-15), with his second match point on his racquet, Cobolli hit a third-shot forehand winner with authority to put away the quarterfinal victory. It was his 33rd winner of the evening.

Playing in his first Roland-Garros quarterfinal, Auger-Aliassime attempted to become the first Canadian man to reach the semifinals at this event in tournament history – and to also advance to his third Grand Slam semifinal, following his runs to the last four twice at the US Open in 2021 and 2025.

For a set, things looked good for Auger-Aliassime. However, after the roof was closed after the first set to offset the cloudy, windy conditions – and with a threat of rain in the forecast – Cobolli took advantage of the different conditions.

“I think we played two different matches today. The first set was incredibly windy and tough to play,” Cobolli said during his on-court interview, describing the windy conditions that permeated the first set before the roof was closed. “I went to the toilet to think a bit and change something. This is the best court I have played on in my life because I can bring my best tennis. I said to myself to fight as I felt this would be the chance of my life and I have to give everything in my matches and today I did it.”

Cobolli finished the quarterfinal with 33 winners to 46 unforced errors, compared to 40 winners and 47 unforced errors by Auger-Aliassime. Cobolli converted five of 10 break-point chances and saved eight of 11 break points he faced from Auger-Aliassime. Cobolli outpointed his opponent 127-125.

With his victory, Cobolli guaranteed an all-Italian men’s Grand Slam semifinal for the first time – and the third time in French tennis history that two Italians had reached the semifinals, joining Nicola Pietrangeli and Orlando Sirola in 1960 at the French Championships, and Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti at Roland-Garros last year. Also, an Italian man will play for the title on Sunday. The last Italian man to win the French Open was Adriano Panatta in 1976.

How’s that for pressure?

On Friday, Cobolli, who will rise in the rankings into the ATP Top 10 next week, will face one of his fellow Italian Davis Cup teammates, Matteo Arnaldi, who advanced by retirement over Matteo Berrettini, Wednesday night in the “Battle of the Matteos.” 

Arnaldi was ahead 7-5, 5-2 after two hours when Berrettini was forced to retire due to what appeared to be a left hip injury. Now, Arnaldi is through to his first major semifinal.

 

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Thanks to the many upsets in the men’s draw, it enabled a match-up of the 104th-ranked Arnaldi, whose five-set comeback win over 22nd-ranked Frances Tiafoe of the United States early Tuesday morning showcased his abilities in shot-making and otherworldly defense, against the 30-year-old Berrettini, ranked No. 105, whose appearance in the late stages of a major is a first after a four-year absence. Both Italians came through five-set thrillers to get to the last eight.

Arnaldi spent 17 hours and 42 minutes on court through the first four rounds to reach his first Grand Slam quarterfinal, breaking the record for longest time en route to a major quarterfinal since the ATP Tour began recording match times in 1991.

Cobolli said he would not stay up to watch the Arnaldi-Berrettini match to its conclusion. “I will do the same routine as every day. I will go to dinner with my friends. I will go to bed and sleep,” he admitted. “It will be a Matteo in the semifinals with me. Two of my good friends from the Tour and I wish them good luck and I hope they enjoy the match.”

Fairytale run continues for Chwalinska

Neither Anna Kalinskaya of Russia nor Maja Chwalinksa of Poland had ever been to a Grand Slam semifinal. Now, after winning their quarterfinal-round tussle, Chwalinska has reached a milestone. She’s just the second qualifier to reach the French Open semifinals in the Open Era.

The 114th-rankled qualifier Chwalinska, whose name is pronounced “Wa-LEEN-ska,” reached the semifinal round with a 7-6 (3), 6-3 win over the No. 22 seed Kalinskaya in one hour and 54 minutes. What a memorable first main draw at Roland-Garros it has been for the native of Miechów, Poland.

At 5-feet-5-inches, the 24-year-old lefty Chwalinska isn’t an imposing figure on the court by any means – unlike her following Polish teammate and four-time French Open champion Iga Swiatek – but she plays a crafty game of tennis. Throughout, she kept Kalinskaya off balance just enough on the windy, cool day that it made a difference.

As their last-eight battle unfolded, the diametrically opposed game styles of Kalinskaya (power) and Chwalinska (flexible shot speeds) made for a compelling match to open play Wednesday on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

Although Chwalinska let slip a 5-1 lead in the opening set, she rallied during the tie-break with a variety of shots to win. Then, in the second set, she built a 4-1 lead against Kalinskaya and never faltered.

Until this Parisian fortnight, Chwalinska’s only Grand Slam win had been a Wimbledon four years ago. It came after she had returned to the sport after leaving it behind to work through a period of depression. Earlier, Chwalinska was in need of finding and affording a hotel for the second week of Roland-Garros after not expecting to advance so far in the draw. Oshee, a Polish sports drink brand which sponsors Swiatek, came to her rescue.

En route to the last four, Chwalinska has lost only one set. She has scored impressive victories over 2024 Olympic gold medalist Zheng Qinwen of China, No. 23 seed Elise Mertens of Belgium, 2021 semifinalist Maria Sakkari of Greece and the last Frenchwoman in this year’s draw, Diane Parry.

During her on-court interview, Chwalinska was as puzzled after beating Kalinskaya to reach her first Grand Slam semifinal as she had been through her previous seven victories (three in qualifying plus four in the main draw). She said: “I honestly don’t know what’s going on.

“Every single match here is kind of crazy for me so I’m very grateful.

“I was definitely nervous. That’s normal. I care so I’m stressed but I try to focus on my job so I’m happy that I did that.”

When Chwalinska was asked how she would spend her downtime before coming back tomorrow to play her semifinal-round match, she replied: “Just sleep, see my team, maybe watch some Netflix – and I’m good!”

Chaos on clay: Shnaider beats No. 1 Sabalenka

On Thursday, Chwalinska will face No. 25 seeds Diana Shnaider of Russia, who pulled off the biggest upset in the women’s draw with her shocking 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 victory over World No. 1 and top seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in two hours and 12 minutes.

The 28-year-old Sabalenka was seeking her first Grand Slam title on a surface other than hard courts. Now, after losing to Shnaider, 22, Sabalenka will have to wait until Wimbledon later this month to go after a major title. 

From 6-3, 4-1 down, Shnaider won 10 of the next 13 games and the final 10 games of the quarterfinal – something stunning that nobody saw coming, certainly not Sabalenka, who was chasing after her 400th career win at Tour-level. Instead, it was a remarkable collapse by the four-time major champion – and it guarantees that there will be a first-time champion in the women’s draw come Saturday. It also snapped Sabalenka’s streak of reaching six straight major semifinals.

Although Shnaider won just 55 percent (31 of 56) of her first-serve points, she picked up the pace on her second serve and won 68 percent (13 of 19) of those points. Shnaider hit 25 winners to 27 unforced errors, compared to 46 winners and a whopping 57 unforced errors by Sabalenka. Shnaider converted seven of 20 break-point opportunities and outpointed Sabalenka 100-88.

“Well, honestly, I’m speechless,” Shnaider said during her on-court interview. “I’m super happy. Today, [we] had tough conditions with the wind, the first time playing Aryna. I was super nervous, in the quarterfinals for the first time.

“The first set, [I] was just trying to adjust to her game and the wind. I was trying to focus point-by-point not thinking about the score. It’s tough conditions and she’s world No. 1, so I just tried to do my best, run for every point.

“Definitely, [it’s] a super special win. In the third set, I finally found my rhythm, where to be a bit more defensive and where to attack. The third set was the one I should be aiming for from the beginning. Better to finish on a good note than to start on a good note.

“It’s a super-special tournament for me here. Today, we’re just going to take care of the body, recover and get ready for tomorrow. It’s going to be a lefty battle. I’m looking forward to it.”

Meanwhile, during her post-match news conference, Sabalenka addressed her loss to Shnaider. “I don’t know when’s the last time that happened to me where I lost 10 games in a row. I guess mentally I got into a very deep, deep dark hole and I couldn’t get back mentally on track.”

Around the French Open

• In men’s doubles, defending champions and this year’s No. 1 seeds Marcel Granollers of Spain and Horacio Zeballos of Argentina advanced to the semifinal round with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over No. 10 seeds Hugo Nys of Monaco and Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France in one hour and 26 minutes on Court Suzanne-Lenglen. Next, they will face No. 5 seeds Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori of Italy.

 

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Also, No. 2 seeds Harri Heliovaara of Finland and Henry Patten of Great Britain defeated unseeded N. Sriram Balaji of India and Marcel Demoliner of Brazil, 6-3, 6-4, to reach the semifinal round. Next, they will play Quentin Halys and Pierre-Hugues Herbert of France, who defeated Sander Arends and David Pel of the Netherlands, 6-4, 6-4, in one hour and 23 minutes on Court Suzanne-Lenglen.

• In women’s doubles, unseeded Shuko Aoyama of Japan and En-Shuko Liang of Taiwan upset No. 13 seeds Hanyu Guo of China and Kristina Mladenovic of France, 6-4, 6-4, in one hour and 36 minutes on Court Suzanne-Lenglen to advance to the semifinal round. Also, advancing was No. 2 seeds Anna Danilina of Kazakhstan and Aleksandra Krunic of Serbia, who defeated No. 7 seeds Ellen Perez of Australia and Demi Schuurs of the Netherlands, 6-2, 7-6 (6), in one hour and 39 minutes on Court Simonne-Mathieu.

• In mixed doubles, No. 1 seeds Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori of Italy advanced to the title match with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Laura Siegemund of Germany and Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France in one hour and 16 minutes on Court Suzanne-Lenglen. In the final, the Italian duo will face Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada and Evan King of the United States, who advanced with a 7-5, 6-7 (6), 10-5 victory over Asia Muhammad of the United States and Nikola Mektic of Croatia in one hour and 58 minutes on Court Simonne-Mathieu.

Wednesday’s Roland-Garros results

Thursday’s Roland-Garros order of play

By the numbers 

• Matteo Arnaldi, Matteo Berrettini and Flavio Cobolli are the first Italian men’s trio in history to reach the quarterfinals of the same Grand Slam event.

• Rafael Jodar was just the sixth man since 2000 to reach the Roland-Garros quarterfinals in his tournament debut. He joined Juan Carlos Ferrero (2000), Martin Verkerk (2003), Rafael Nadal (2005), Jannik Sinner (2020) and Holger Rune (2022), according to the ATP Tour website.

• Maja Chwalinska is just the sixth qualifier to reach the semifinals of a women’s Grand Slam tournament, according to the WTA Tour website. She joins Christine Madison (1978 Australian Open), Alexandra Stevenson (1999 Wimbledon), Nadia Podoroska (2020 French Open), Emma Raducanu (2021 US Open) and Dayana Yastremska (2024 Australian Open).

“Quotable …”

“All these matches helped me to realize that if you want to compete against the best players in the world, you have to keep your level all the time the same. You cannot have a lot of downs during the matches, especially when you are playing a five-set match.

“What I learned about me is that I can compete against anyone, but I still have to improve a lot of things and these matches will help me to improve those things. That’s what I learned.”

– Spanish teenager Rafael Jodar, during his post-match news conference Tuesday after losing his quarterfinal-round match to No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev.

“Tough match today, but really positive week. Played good tennis this week, and coming from a little injury and not having any expectations for this tournament and [I still made] a great run. So, yeah, like I said, tough today, but for sure this is a positive week. …

“I did my best today. I think I put all I had on court, but yeah, unfortunately it was Jakub’s day. He played good tennis. I wish him good luck.”

– Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca, during his post-match news conference Tuesday after losing his quarterfinal-round match to No. 26 seed Jakub Mensik of Czechia.

 

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