French Open: Matteo Arnaldi withdraws from his first Grand Slam semifinal due to viral illness

Only one Roland-Garros semifinal was played on Friday, as Matteo Arnaldi was forced to pull out 20 minutes before his scheduled match against the 10th-seeded Flavio Cobolli with a viral illness, the tournament announced.

Cobolli will advance to Sunday's final and face No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev, after the German defeated No. 26 seed Jakub Mensik in four sets earlier Friday. A first-time Grand Slam champion has been guaranteed to be crowned since Novak Djokovic fell in the third round.

It is a brutal development for Arnaldi, an unseeded player who entered the tournament ranked 104th in the world. He had never reached a Grand Slam quarterfinal before this year's Roland-Garros, but defeated Francis Tiafoe in the fourth round then advanced after Matteo Berrettini had to retire mid-match on Wednesday.

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Speaking with reporters after the announcement, Arnaldi said he encountered a stomach bug overnight and was unable to play despite a doctor's help:

"It's difficult to be here. It's not what I wanted to do, but last night I started to feel not very well. Yesterday I was feeling OK. I came here to practice, I did everything I had to do. I was feeling fine. I had dinner. I started to feel so-so with my stomach. I was like 'Alright, just didn't digest very well.' But then I woke up at 1 a.m. and I started vomiting. I wasn't feeling the best. Then I tried to sleep.

"I couldn't sleep at all. At 6, 7 a.m. I vomited again. This time it was pretty bad. We called the doctor in the room, he came and gave me some stuff. I was hoping it could just be something from dinner or something like that, but throughout the day I couldn't eat. Every time I ate something or would drink I would go back to the bathroom. So it's tough. It's tough. For how the tournament was, for how many hours I spent on court I was feeling actually very good.

"To have to withdraw from my first Slam semifinal is not something you wish to anybody. I tried to get ready and tried to stay as much as I could here. Tried to see if I could go on court, but every time I get up I feel dizzy and I don't feel the best. I'm pretty sure if I eat again I'm not going to feel good, so that was the right decision for me to take."

When asked if the issue was an illness or food poisoning, Arnaldi said he believed it was a virus because he experienced chills and a fever during the day.

Arnaldi now faces the question of whether he will ever get an opportunity like this again. This year's Roland-Garros has been defined by a barrage of upsets, leaving Zverev and hardcourt specialist Felix Auger-Aliassime as the only ATP top 10 players left after the third round. Arnaldi has shown promise in the past — and will move to 34th in the rankings just by reaching the semifinal — but every player wants to win a Grand Slam. There may never be a more open one than this.

For his part, Cobolli said he was sad for his friend, but didn't deny being excited about the opportunity. Reaching a Grand Slam final alone has vaulted him into the top 10 in the ATP rankings after entering with the No. 14 ranking:

"When it came to me almost one hour ago, I almost cried. It's something that you don't expect at all. I was ready to play this match and when it came, I was completely sad for him. But at the same time, of course I'm really happy for the result I've received this week. My dad also came to me right before him and we had a big hug together with the whole team for achieving the top 10.

"I'm sad and happy at the same time."

A win over Zverev would catapult Cobolli into the top 5.