Italian tennis player Matteo Arnaldi’s dream run to the 2026 French Open semifinals abruptly came to a halt after he was forced to withdraw with an illness shortly before his match.
Arnaldi, 25, said he was “feeling OK” on Thursday, June 4, the night before his scheduled semifinal showdown with fellow Italian player Flavio Cobolli, but things took a turn after he ate dinner.
“I started to feel so-so with my stomach,” he told reporters on Friday, June 5, right after it was announced the match was canceled. “I was like, ‘Alright, just didn’t digest very well.’ I woke up at 1 a.m. and started vomiting. I wasn’t feeling the best. Then I tried to sleep.”
Arnaldi, the No. 104-ranked men’s player in the world, continued, “Couldn’t sleep at all. At 6, 7 a.m. I vomited again. This time it was pretty bad. We called the doctor in the room. He came and gave me some stuff. I was hoping it could just be something from dinner or something like that.”
Throughout the morning, Arnaldi said he “couldn’t eat.” Every time he tried, he said it resulted in a trip “back to the bathroom.”
“I can’t move, I can’t eat, I can’t drink,” he added. “There was no way I would be able to play. I feel sorry for all the fans.”
Arnaldi said he was “feeling very good” heading into the semifinals, which makes his illness even more “tough” to process.
“To have to withdraw from my first [Grand] Slam semifinal is not something you wish to anybody,” he continued. “I tried to get ready and tried to stay as much as I could here, tried to see if I could go on court. But every time I got up, I feel dizzy and I don’t feel the best. I’m pretty sure if I eat again I’m not going to feel that good.”
Despite the disappointment, Arnaldi said he believed he was making “the right decision.”
“It’s difficult to be here,” he said. “It’s not what I wanted to do.”
Cobolli, 24, advanced via walkover to the men’s final against Alexander Zverev on Sunday, June 7, with both men on the hunt for their first major title.
“When he came to me almost one hour ago, I almost cried,” Cobolli said at the same press conference on Friday, sitting at a distance from Arnaldi. “It’s something that you don’t expect at all. I was ready to play this match. When it came, I was completely sad for him.”
Cobolli added, “At the same time, I’m really happy for the result this week.”
