Flavio Cobolli dedicates Munich upset of Alexander Zverev to late 13-year-old friend

MUNICH—Italy’s Flavio Cobolli headlined Saturday’s semi-final action at the BMW Open by Bitpanda, producing an outstanding display to knock out defending champion and top seed Alexander Zverev.

In perfect weather conditions and in front of a capacity crowd on Center Court at the MTTC Iphitos, the fourth seed struck 32 winners and lost just eight points on his first serve. Cobolli converted four of his five break-point chances to advance in just one hour and nine minutes.

A friend of mine passed away yesterday. He was only 13 years old. This win is for him. Flavio Cobolli

“It was one of my best matches ever, against one of my best friends on Tour,” added the world No. 16, who recorded his first victory over Zverev in their third meeting. “He’s a really good guy and we have a great relationship with everyone on his team, so it was a little bit tough to play against him. But today I think I played one of my best matches, and I’m really happy about my performance.”

Zverev prioritizes recovery ahead of Madrid

“It was certainly one of his better matches,” said Zverev. “However, I’ve played a lot of tennis lately and my legs just weren’t there anymore. A few days off will definitely help. I’ll have six days until my next match, which is more than I’ve had recently. I’ll try to use that time wisely to be ready and perform well again in Madrid.”

Zverev, who celebrates his 29th birthday on Monday, was also asked about any plans to mark the occasion. “I’ll skip the party for now. I need to recover first,” he said.

The German left open whether he will stick to his planned schedule of playing in Madrid, Rome and Hamburg.

“Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner are handling it quite smartly by not playing every tournament,” Zverev added. “Paris is the big goal.”

Shelton soars past Molcan

Later in the afternoon, Ben Shelton ended the run of Slovakian qualifier Alex Molcan. The No. 2 seed from the United States, who finished runner-up to Zverev last year in Munich, returned to the BMW Open by Bitpanda final with a 6-3, 6-4 win.

Shelton fired six aces and won 73 percent of his first-service points to seal victory in one hour and 36 minutes.

“Alex had beaten a bunch of great players throughout the week. The scoreline doesn’t show it, but it was a really tight match today,” said Shelton, the first American man to reach back-to-back finals at any European clay-court event since Jim Courier at Roland Garros in 1991–93.

“It’s pretty cool to reach back-to-back finals here in Munich. That’s the first time I’ve achieved that feat. I love doing that here and it gives me a lot of confidence,” he added.

Cobolli is now seeking his fourth tour-level title and his second of the season following his triumph in Acapulco, Mexico.

“Ben is a very good player and likes these conditions here a lot. It will be a good match. But we are on clay. I am ready for tomorrow,” said the 23-year-old Florence native, who could claim his second ATP 500 trophy on German soil after Hamburg last year.

Shelton will appear in his seventh career final, aiming for his fifth title. The pair will meet for the sixth time, with the American leading their head-to-head record 3–2. Their only previous clay-court encounter was won by Cobolli at the Geneva Open in Switzerland in 2024.

Sunday’s action will begin with the doubles final, as German qualifiers Jakob Schnaitter and Mark Wallner face the all-French duo Théo Arribagé and Albano Olivetti at 11 a.m. local time. The singles final is scheduled for not before 1:30 p.m. local time.