Munich
\n Cobolli upsets Zverev in \u201cone of my best matches ever\u201d to reach Munich final<\/p>\n
Italian awaits Shelton or Molcan in Sunday’s final<\/p>\n
April 18, 2026<\/p>\n
BMW Open<\/p>\n
Flavio Cobolli earns the biggest win of his career over World No. 3 Alexander Zverev on Saturday at the BMW Open by Bitpanda in Munich.
\n By ATP Staff<\/p>\n
Flavio Cobolli<\/a> silenced a partisan home crowd on Saturday at the BMW Open by Bitpanda<\/a> in Munich, where he powered past defending champion Alexander Zverev<\/a> to book his place in the final.<\/p>\n The 23-year-old Italian delivered a superb all-round performance for a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Zverev, the No. 3 player in the PIF ATP Rankings. Cobolli struck 32 winners and lost just eight points on his first serve, according to Infosys ATP Stats, en route to his maiden win over a Top-5 opponent.<\/p>\n Third time’s a charm \ud83d\udcaa<\/p>\n Flawless @cobollifla<\/a> defeats defending champion Zverev for the first time \ud83d\udd1c Munich final!@BMWOpen500<\/a> | #BMWOpenbyBitpanda<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/szUM2RSgYd<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 ATP Tour (@atptour) April 18, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n “It was one of my best matches ever, against one of my best friends on Tour,” said Cobolli, who trails Zverev 1-2 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series. “He’s a really good guy and we have a good relationship with everyone on his team, so it was a little bit tough to play against him. But today I think I played one of my best matches, and I’m really happy about my performance.”<\/p>\n With his 69-minute triumph, Cobolli became just the third player this season to reach ATP Tour finals on both clay and hard courts, joining Carlos Alcaraz<\/a> and Jannik Sinner<\/a> (Ben Shelton<\/a> and Arthur Fils<\/a> could also match that feat on Saturday). The Italian, who claimed the ATP 500 title in Acapulco in February, will face either American No. 1 Shelton or Slovakian qualifier Alex Molcan<\/a> in Sunday\u2019s final.<\/p>\n Cobolli settled quickly into the semi-final, using aggressive groundstrokes to move Zverev \u2014 the three-time Munich champion \u2014 around the court while showcasing impressive speed and precision under pressure. The German, by contrast, struggled to find his rhythm and appeared out of sorts throughout, firing a costly double fault in the opening game of the second set to hand Cobolli a crucial break.<\/p>\n Up to No. 12 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, Cobolli is chasing his fourth ATP Tour title and third at ATP 500 level. Prior to his win over Zverev, Cobolli was 1-16 against Top-10 players, with the only victory coming when No. 9 Holger Rune<\/a> retired after the first set of their Madrid clash last year.<\/p>\n For Zverev, the defeat marks a fourth consecutive semi-final loss, having fallen to Sinner at three straight ATP Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells, Miami and Monte-Carlo.<\/p>\n