French Open quarter-finalist shows true colours as rival in ‘dangerous’ incident on court | Tennis | Sport

Flavio Cobolli came to the rescue when his opponent, Zachary Svajda, took a nasty fall early in their fourth-round French Open match. Svajda, who had never been beyond the second round of a Major until now, was serving at 1-1 in the first set when he had to sprint to chase down one of the Italian’s dropshots, and ended up running straight into the umpire’s chair, tumbling to the ground and ending up covered in clay.

Cobolli came straight over as chair umpire Aurelie Tourte got down off her chair to check on the world No. 85. And the 10th seed was commended for his class as he helped Svajda clean up.

“Ooh, he’s hurt himself,” TNT Sports commentator Nick Mullins exclaimed as Svajda hurtled into the chair and was left on the ground. “Oh my goodness. Well, I mean, the work to get to the ball, and then he clattered through all the furniture and the chairs around Aurelie Tourte’s umpire’s chair.”

The 23-year-old slowly sat up, grabbing his elbow, which was coated in some of the clay. Cobolli walked over and took action, bringing a towel over as Svajda got back on his feet. “I think, thankfully, it sounded a little more dramatic [than it was],” co-commentator Miles Maclagan said.

Tourte propped Svajda’s racket up and made sure he was alright, and Cobolli opened a bottle, pouring water over his rival’s elbow. The Court Philippe-Chatrier crowd applauded his sporting gesture, and Mullins added: “Aw, well, that is nice to see. Cobolli was the first across to check on the welfare of Zach Svajda.”

A replay showed the moment that Cobolli hit a perfectly-angled dropshot. Svajda had to run from the baseline, but had too much momentum and overran straight into the chair. “It was a beautiful touch from Cobolli,” Maclagan told viewers.

“I think that’s what the clattering was. Unfortunately, sounded a little louder. It was dangerous, but he’s brushed himself off.”

Svajda went on to get broken in that game and lost the first two sets, though he managed to take the third in a tiebreak. Cobolli raced into a 5-1 lead in the fourth set, but the American came storming back and won five games in a row.