{"id":717694,"date":"2026-06-05T22:11:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T22:11:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/717694\/"},"modified":"2026-06-05T22:11:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T22:11:09","slug":"hes-my-reference-cobolli-on-facing-zverev-in-roland-garros-final","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/717694\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00ab He\u2019s my reference \u00bb: Cobolli on facing Zverev in Roland-Garros final"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Flavio Cobolli was asked to describe his bond with Alexander Zverev, twi days priori to the Roland-Garros final, he did not reach for the word \u201crival.\u201d He reached for something closer to apprenticeship.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s my main point of reference among the big names, apart from Jannik (Sinner) and Carlos (Alcaraz), obviously,\u201d Cobolli said of the German. \u201cWith him, I can talk honestly, and it helps me a lot in the moments where he senses I need it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The friendship, he stressed, is not a practice-court acquaintance. \u201cWe talk about silly things too, not just serious ones. We\u2019ve really clicked.\u201d On the day of the semi-finals, Zverev\u2019s brother handed Cobolli a Harry Kane football shirt.<\/p>\n

Head to head<\/p>\n

Zverev tells the same story from the other side, and traces it to its source: The Laver Cup, when they first met, Cobolli\u2019s father. \u201cSometimes, when there were difficult moments, his father used to come up to me,\u201d the German said. \u201cHe\u2019d ask me questions, ask my father questions, about tennis and different things, and I was always very happy to talk to him. So that\u2019s when it started, and with some people, it just continues.\u201d Of Cobolli himself: \u201cHe\u2019s a nice person, he has a good heart, and he\u2019s extremely funny if you get to know him. Two very, very good people.\u201d<\/p>\n

The match record is less sentimental. Zverev leads their head-to-head 3-1, and has won the meetings that matter most \u2013 a Roland-Garros first-round in 2025, on this same clay, and a Madrid quarter-final on clay this spring, 6-1 6-4. Cobolli\u2019s lone win came at the Munich semi-finals this season, 6-3 6-3. Sunday will be by far the biggest stage on which the reference has met the student.<\/p>\n


\n \"\"
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

He told me we\u2019re friends, so I suppose that means I should let him have the match.<\/p>\n

Both men found the same way to hold the contradiction. \u201cThat doesn\u2019t change the fact that now we\u2019ll be opponents,\u201d Cobolli said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of respect off the court, but precisely because of that, on court we\u2019ll go to battle.\u201d Zverev called sharing a final with a friend a privilege, not a problem: \u201cIt\u2019s nice to share it. Of course you still try to beat each other, but that\u2019s okay.\u201d<\/p>\n

The hardest part, for Cobolli, is what he knows: that Zverev, the finest player of his generation never to win a major, wants one above almost anything. \u201cHe\u2019s always confided in me that he\u2019d want to win a Grand Slam at all costs,\u201d Cobolli said. \u201cHe told me we\u2019re friends, so I suppose that means I should let him have the match.\u201d He smiled at the impossibility. \u201cThat won\u2019t happen. You have to switch your head off and think only about yourself for a couple of days.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Flavio Cobolli was asked to describe his bond with Alexander Zverev, twi days priori to the Roland-Garros…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":717695,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[442],"tags":[49,48,82,593],"class_list":["post-717694","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717694","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=717694"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717694\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/717695"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=717694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=717694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=717694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}