One of the biggest victories in Flavio Cobolli’s career was also one of the most emotional days of his life.
The Italian tennis player defeated ATP No. 3 Alexander Zverev 6-3, 6-3 in the semi-finals of the Bayern Open in Munich on Saturday to break into the top 10 for the first time in his career. After shaking hands with the German player, he started crying on court.
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The reason for the tears was that Cobolli recently learned that a 13-year-old friend from an Italian club had passed away on Friday.
Cobolli, 23, dedicated his victory to his friend Mattia on social media.
Koboli, currently ranked 13th in the world in the ATP Live Rankings, had a clear service advantage throughout the match, making seven aces to Zverev’s zero and winning six of the German’s nine second-serve points. He won 10 in a row in one stretch, overturning a record of two losses in head-to-head competition.
Cobolli can win the fourth ATP title of his career on Sunday, but he will need one more win to finish in the top 10 to get there. No. 6 Ben Shelton defeated Alex Molkan in the other semifinal, reaching the final for the second year in a row, having lost to Zverev in 2025.
