Flavio Cobolli advances to Roland Garros final after Matteo Arnaldi pulls out with viral illness

Flavio Cobolli will face Alexander Zverev in the Roland Garros men's final after Matteo Arnaldi withdrew ahead of the all-Italian semifinal match due to a viral illness.

It is just the fourth time in the Open Era that a Grand Slam semifinal, on either the men's or women's side, has ended as a result of a walkover. The last time it happened was a Wimbledon in 2022, when Rafael Nadal withdrew ahead of his scheduled match against Nick Kyrgios.

Arnaldi previously played 18 sets through four matches to reach his first major quarterfinal, and in the previous round, was the beneficiary of a retirement when Matteo Berrettini pulled the plug with Arnaldi ahead 7-5, 5-2 due to a hip injury.

The 25-year-old, who came into the tournament ranked outside the Top 100, had spent 17 hours and 42 minutes on court through four matches, which was nearly two hours more than any other player took to make the quarterfinals at any Grand Slam tournament since the ATP began recording match times in 1991.

More to come...