Flavio Cobolli makes desperate plea to Alexander Zverev after crushing French Open defeat | Tennis | Sport

Flavio Cobolli came painstakingly close to winning the biggest trophy of his career at the French Open, as he pushed No. 2 seed and title favourite Alexander Zverev to five sets before losing 6-1 4-6 6-4 6-7(5) 6-1. It was a statement fortnight for 10th seed Cobolli, who had previously never been beyond the quarter-finals, but he fell short in the four-hour and 16-minute battle.

The 24-year-old was all class after the match, however, as he congratulated Zverev on what had been a long-awaited first Major trophy after three previous finals defeats. But Cobolli also asked the newly-crowned champion to let him win the next one.

Cobolli and Zverev have a great relationship off the court, and the Italian was happy to see the world No. 3 lift the trophy, but the loss still stung. “Well, it’s not easy for me to talk right now, but yeah. I want to start with you, Alex. If someone ask me who deserve more this title, I always said you,” the runner-up said.

“It’s been an honour for our relationship to share the court with you today. Yeah, I’m happy for you, but I’m also sad because, you know! I was close, and I feel it. So now that you achieve your dream, let me win the next time!

“Then, I want to say thank you to all the French federation, tournament director, who make possible this week. It’s always unbelievable to play here. It’s one of the best weeks of my life and yeah, this is the best Grand Slam ever for me, I was always watching on TV.”

Cobolli then turned to his countryman, Adriano Panatta, who still remains the last Italian man to lift the singles trophy here, exactly 50 years ago. “Not you, Adriano, because I wasn’t born!” he laughed. “It’s been a privilege and a great honour, also, to have you here. I felt a little pressure on my side. It’s always tough to play in front of you, but thanks for being here, and congrats for what you did all of your career.”

The 10th seed turned to the dozens in his support camp, who all turned up in matching blue t-shirts and spilt over his usual coaching box, sitting in surrounding seats in the stands. “I want to say thanks to all the blue wall that I have behind me. I cannot look at you, then I’m crying,” he said.

The Court Philippe-Chatrier crowd erupted into chants of ‘Ole Flavio’, and he added: “I just want to ask one thing because it was an incredible week, incredible run, so I want to see all the smiles from you guys because it’s been fantastic to be here with you and always a privilege to work with you, so thank you for coming.”

Laughing, Cobolli quipped: “My mum is still alive, so I’m happy!” And the 24-year-old finished with a special message to himself. “Then I want to finish with myself. I started to play tennis when I was young and I never expected this kind of result,” he explained.

“But now that I’m here, you know, I just want to make possible something special because for me it’s not done, it’s only the start, and I’m still young, so I just want to enjoy every moment that I spend on court with my smile. And yeah, I don’t know what else to say now! Just make some noise for Sascha.”

While it wasn’t to be for Cobolli, he will crack the world’s top 10 for the first time on Monday, and can take plenty of confidence moving into the grass season and beyond.

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