Flavio Cobolli has reached his first grand slam semi-final after defeating Felix Auger-Aliassime in the French Open.
Despite losing the first set, Cobolli fought back to win 4-6 6-4 6-4 6-4 in three hours and 26 minutes and set up an all-Italian semi-final, as he will face either Matteo Berrettini or Matteo Arnaldi in the last four.
It was a nervy start in the quarter-final from both players as they lost their opening service games, but Auger-Aliassime managed to break once more in the tenth game to win the first.
The Canadian was first to break in the second, but Cobolli responded with back-to-back breaks of his own, and the 24-year-old did not look back from there.
After winning the second, Cobolli needed just one break of serve to take the third,
though he did save seven break points in the process.
He was far more clinical in the fourth, however, converting the only break point opportunity of the set in the fifth game before clinching victory with his second match point.
Italians dreaming in France
Along with achieving his maiden men's singles semi-final at a grand slam, with Cobolli's victory, two Italians will now meet in the semi-final at a grand slam event for the first time in the Open Era.
1 - Along with achieving his maiden Men's Singles SF at a Grand Slam, with Flavio Cobolli's victory, two Italians will now meet in the SF at a Grand Slam event for the first time in the Open Era. Derby.#RolandGarros | @rolandgarros @atptour pic.twitter.com/l0q6iLSdCm
— OptaAce (@OptaAce) June 3, 2026
Cobolli is the first player to claim each of his first four career ATP top 10 wins on clay since Dominic Thiem in 2016.
Multiple players (Cobolli and Jakub Mensik) have also achieved a maiden men's singles grand slam semi-final at Roland-Garros for the first time since 2010 (Jurgen Melzer and Tomas Berdych).
And as highlighted by the early exits of Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev on the men's side, and Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina in the women's draw, it certainly seems to be the tournament for the underdogs this year.
This is the first grand slam event without a former major champion featuring in both the men's and women's semifinal lineups since the French Open 1977.
