Matteo Arnaldi withdrew from his French Open semi-final against Flavio Cobolli after falling ill, the Roland Garros Arnaldi withdrawal press announcement arriving at about 17:35 BST — 25 minutes before the players were due to walk out on court in Paris.
The decision handed Flavio Cobolli a place in his first major final on Sunday, when he will face Alexander Zverev, and abruptly changed the men’s semi-final order minutes before the match was scheduled to begin.
Arnaldi said the cause was a virus that struck on Thursday night. He woke at about 1am with stomach pain, began vomiting and could not sleep, then called a doctor to his room on Friday morning. "I tried to see if I could get on court but every time I get up I feel dizzy. It was the right decision to take," he said, adding: "I just know I can't move, I can't eat and I can't drink - there was no way I was able to play."
The practical toll of Arnaldi’s run at Roland Garros makes the withdrawal sharper: he had never previously gone beyond the fourth round of a major and had spent 19 hours and 42 minutes on court en route to his first Grand Slam semi-final. Those numbers underline how close he had come to a breakthrough before illness removed him from the field.
Arnaldi described the moment bluntly. "It is difficult to be here - this is not what I wanted to do," he said, and later: "Withdrawing from a first Grand Slam semi-final is not what you wish to anybody." The pair appeared together at a news conference after the withdrawal and sat at opposite ends of the table to avoid the risk of contagion; Cobolli said, "It is so, so tough. When he came to see me, I almost cried."
The timing — an official announcement at roughly 17:35 BST, 25 minutes before the scheduled start — is the immediate fact that altered the day’s schedule and removed the routine build-up for both players. Arnaldi said he tried to test himself, but each time he stood up he felt dizzy and could not eat or drink, which left medical staff and the player little choice but to withdraw.
The withdrawal’s immediate consequence is clear: Cobolli advances to a final he had not reached before and will face Zverev on Sunday. For spectators and organizers it meant an unexpected slot change and for Cobolli an advance without playing the semi-final. For Arnaldi it means ending a breakthrough week in Paris on medical grounds.
What remains unanswered is how the virus will affect Arnaldi beyond the tournament. Officials and the player have set out the timeline of illness — falling sick Thursday night, vomiting in the early hours and being unable to eat throughout Friday — but there is no public prognosis for his recovery or how quickly he might return to competition after leaving Paris. That uncertainty is the clearest open question left by a withdrawal that happened when the stadium lights were already warming up for the players to come out.
