Matteo Arnaldi has withdrawn before taking to the court for his French Open semi-final against compatriot Flavio Cobolli, allowing the 10th seed a walkover into the final.
The 25-year-old said he “can’t move, can’t eat and can’t drink” after coming down with illness overnight.
Unseeded Arnaldi was the lowest-ranked man to reach the last four at Roland-Garros since 1997 off the back of a stunning run, in which he spent nearly 20 hours on court over a gruelling two weeks.
But the Italian, who is ranked 104th in the world, came down with illness and will now not contest the final. His walkover means close friend Cobolli, the world No 14, will face Alexander Zverev in Sunday’s showpiece.
An announcement was made 25 minutes before the match had been due to start on Court Philippe-Chatrier that Arnaldi was “suffering from a virus”.
Arnaldi appeared before press shortly after and was visibly disappointed as he said: “It’s difficult to be here, it’s not what I wanted to do, but last night I started to feel not very well. Yesterday I was feeling fine, I came here to practice. I went to dinner, woke up at 1am and started vomiting, I couldn’t sleep at all, and at 6, 7am I vomited again, this time was pretty bad.
“We called the doctor and I was hoping that it would just be something from dinner but throughout the day I couldn’t eat, every time I would go back to the bathroom.
“It’s tough, because for how the tournament was, for how many hours I spent on court I was feeling very good. Having to withdraw from the first slam semi-final is not what you wish for anybody.”
He added that he believed he was suffering from a virus rather than food poisoning, a common occurrence at tournaments. He said: “I tried to get ready and see if I could go on court but every time I get up I feel dizzy, so that was the right decision to take.
“I can’t move, I can’t eat, I can’t drink, so there was no way I’d be able to play. I feel sorry for everyone that got a ticket and came to watch us, I feel happy for him that he’s going to play the final but at the same time sad that we couldn’t play the match.”
“It’s also tough for me to speak now,” Cobolli, a close friend and Davis Cup teammate of Arnaldi, said. “When he came to me an hour ago I almost cried. It’s something that you don’t expect, I was ready to play this match, and when he came I was completely sad for him. At the same time of course I’m really happy for the result that I reached this week.”
25-year-old Arnaldi had spent the most time on court of all the four semi-finalists by nearly four hours, having played two five-set epics against Raphael Collignon and 19th seed Frances Tiafoe, the latter taking just shy of five and a half hours.
He beat compatriot Matteo Berrettini in the quarter-final when the former Wimbledon finalist retired injured at 7-5 5-2 down.
Cobolli translated a speech he made in Italian to Arnaldi in the press conference, saying in English: “I just said Matteo is a big inspiration for all of us. He’s an amazing player, he’s I think the best person outside the court for how he makes the team, preparation of the match, focus, cool-down, he’s one of the best on the tour for sure.
“I said also he deserved the results he got this week, he got injured last season and at the beginning of this one [with a foot injury]. We all knew about his level, everyone expected this result from him, his tennis is amazing. I wish him all the best for the future.”
