Flavio Cobolli Falls to Muscle Cramps in Roland-Garros 2026 Final

National News from the Eastern Tip

Italian tennis player, Flavio Cobolli, failed to win the championship title after experiencing severe muscle cramps in his first Grand Slam final appearance at the 2026 Roland-Garros tournament in Paris on Sunday (7/6).

The loss in the five-set struggle on the Philippe-Chatrier court was confirmed by Cobolli, who admitted that his physical condition suddenly collapsed during critical moments of the match against Alexander Zverev.

Cobolli started to feel the physical problem in the fourth set, which was almost over when the match entered the tie-break phase.

"During the fourth set, I felt cramps in my calf [muscle]... My calf was no longer working. At the end, after the second game (in the fifth set), it was the same with my quadriceps. I felt completely exhausted. My body gave in on the court," said Flavio Cobolli at a post-match press conference quoted by franceinfo.fr.

Before entering the semifinal round, Cobolli had accumulated a long playing time of 13 hours and 1 minute on the court.

Despite this, Cobolli actually had a rest day on Friday as his semifinal opponent, Matteo Arnaldi, decided to withdraw due to injury before the Italian derby began.

Cobolli's hard work initially yielded results when he won the fourth set through a tie-break after trailing in the previous sets, but he eventually lost with a score of 6-1 in the fifth set.

The visible cramping in his legs was evident as Cobolli walked towards the podium to receive the runner-up trophy at the clay-court tournament.

Cobolli observed that his opponent's stamina was also depleted, but his opponent was deemed to have a significantly better endurance to complete the deciding set.