“Obviously it was a question mark today,” he said, explaining that he took Tuesday as a rest day to conserve what energy he has left. “I just came here, did some physio and some stuff in the gym. Today I was actually feeling pretty good.”
Even if the fatigue is setting in, the adrenaline of making a career-changing run is keeping Arnaldi’s spirits high.
“I can’t complain,” he said. “I have been playing a lot but at the same time, I’m happy to be on court and to spend time on court, because I missed playing. I for sure have some energy left for the next matches.”
Asked to describe his emotions after moving through to the semifinal, he said, “I still can’t believe it. If I think about where I was a month ago, I was almost No. 150 in the world. Then I played the Challenger in Cagliari and from there I started to feel better and train again like I wanted.
“Now I’m here. It’s crazy to think, but I always liked this tournament and I always play well here. Two years ago I made the fourth round, so I love to play in front of this crowd.”
Arnaldi’s next challenge, against No. 10 seed Flavio Cobolli, will be the first all-Italian singles semifinal at a Grand Slam event in the Open era.
Rather than worry that the test will prove too physical, Colangelo and Arnaldi prefer to keep dreaming that they can beat the odds.
“You start winning, you win matches that you almost lose, and then something happens,” he says. “If you have his level, then it’s easy to change. He started to play better, to move better – it’s tennis, it can be like this.”