Flavio Cobolli is into his first Grand Slam semi-final after defeating Felix Auger-Aliassime 4-6 6-4 6-4 6-4.
The Italian played some sizzling tennis as he defeated the Canadian in four sets to reach a first Grand Slam semi-final.
It will be a historic all-Italian final which is remarkable given Jannik Sinner’s early exit.
Next for Arnaldi it will either be Matteo Berrettini or Matteo Arnaldi in the last four.
Both players struggled with conditions early on which was summed up as Auger-Aliassime misjudged a smash on the first point.
The pair shared breaks of serve at the start of the contest with it being very difficult to dominate on serve which both players like to do.
In the middle of the set Auger-Aliassime started to find some control on the forehand side while Cobolli was returning consistently well.
It would be decided by who could control the conditions better on the bigger points and that would be Auger-Aliassime.
The Canadian made some smart moves into the net to set up break point in the tenth game before a missed forehand from Cobolli gave the fourth seed the opening set.
After the first set, the roof closed on Court Philippe-Chatrier to the delight of both players and probably the despair of Aryna Sabalenka after her defeat earlier in the day.
It was Auger-Aliassime who showed more aggression and clarity in the second set as he was serving confidently.
Stepping in on the forehand side paid off for Auger-Aliassime as he broke for a 3-1 lead as his consistently aggressive start was rewarded.
However, it didn’t last long as the Canadian suddenly got tight and missed a few forehand shots to the delight of Cobolli who broke back.
That seemed to give the Italian a much needed boost as he broke again for a 4-3 lead as the quality off his racket seemed to have got better.
Auger-Aliassime couldn’t recover from those mistakes as Cobolli closed out the second set to level this match at one set all.
At the start of the fourth set both players exchanged brutal rallies as a crucial set was unfolding here.
The return quality of Cobolli was evident and Auger-Aliassime was producing inconsistent forehands.
A high-quality game from Cobolli resulted in a forehand unforced error from Auger-Aliassime as the Italian broke serve for a 4-3 lead.
It was a dramatic eighth game as what looked like a routine Cobolli service hold turned into a complicated game as Auger-Aliassime applied the pressure despite a fall earlier in the game.
Three break points were saved from Cobolli though as the Italian comfortably served out the set and took a two sets to one lead.
There was only looking like one winner in the fourth set as Auger-Aliassime committed more errors and looked fatigued.
The forehand was sizzling off Cobolli’s racket as he dictated the tempo of the baseline rallies and left Auger-Aliassime stunned.
A break in the fifth game secured the win for the Italian as another forehand winner secured his place in a first Grand Slam semi-final.
It’s a tough moment for Auger-Aliassime as his best chance of winning a Grand Slam has gone.
However, a historic all-Italian semi-final now awaits Cobolli as he will either face Matteo Berrettini or Matteo Arnaldi on Friday.
