Flavio Cobolli dedicated his BMW Open semi-final win over Alexander Zverev in Munich to his late 13-year-old friend Mattia. Last year’s Wimbledon quarter-finalist only found out about the death of the young boy from his tennis club in Parioli on Friday after beating Vit Kopriva in the ATP 250 event.
Cobolli, 23, showed no signs that the news was affecting his performance, beating the world No.3 in straight sets 6-3, 6-3. However, after the fourth seed finished his match, emotion overcame him out on court, and tears began to flow after what he would later describe as a “special win” that was “for something bigger”.
Then, during his interview, Cobolli said: “A friend of mine passed away yesterday, he was only 13 years old, this win is for him.”
He later posted on Instagram: A special win today. Not just for tennis, but for something bigger. Thinking of Mattia, a young boy from my club in Parioli. This one is for you.”
The Italian added on-court: “It was one of my best matches ever, against one of my best friends on Tour. 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 agreed after losing to Cobolli for the first time in three meetings, saying: “It was certainly one of his better matches. 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.”
This latest victory means the Italian is in a second singles final of the season, a month-and-a-half on from winning the Mexican Open. Cobolli also won the Indian Wells mixed doubles title with Belinda Bencic, beating top seeds Gabriela Dabrowski and Lloyd Glasspool.
The fourth seed faces another top ten player in Sunday’s final, Ben Shelton. Cobolli won their first two meetings in 2024, including a semi-final in Washington, but the American won all three last year.