Cobolli chases French Open glory while channeling Nadal's shower ritual

Flavio Cobolli is two matches away from winning his first Grand Slam title, and he is leaving nothing to chance—not even the shower he uses between matches. The 24-year-old Italian reached the semi-finals of the French Open on Wednesday by defeating Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime, the fourth seed, in four sets. The victory marked his first appearance in a major semi-final, and it came after a match that began in chaos and ended in clarity.

The opening set belonged entirely to Auger-Aliassime. Wind whipped across Court Philippe Chatrier, making the court feel less like a tennis venue and more like a test of nerve. Cobolli lost that first set 4-6, watching his opponent seize control at 5-4 and close it out. But something shifted when the roof came down. The conditions stabilized. Cobolli steadied himself—he even took a moment to visit the toilet, he would later explain, to think and reset. He returned to the court with a different mindset. He won four games in a row to level the match, then took the second set 6-4. The third and fourth sets followed a similar pattern: a single break of serve in each was enough. After three hours and twenty-four minutes, Cobolli had his victory, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.

In his post-match press conference, Cobolli was asked about the superstitions he had mentioned on court. He acknowledged them with a kind of sheepish honesty. He eats at the same restaurant, orders the same menu, keeps his racquet at the same tension regardless of weather, and maintains an identical routine after every match. "I'm a little bit superstitious but not crazy," he said. "This week I'm a little bit more crazy than the others." Then he revealed the detail that would define the story: he has been using the same shower cubicle at Roland Garros—the one that Rafael Nadal, the 14-time French Open champion, has claimed as his own for the past fourteen years.

Cobolli recounted a previous French Open when Nadal himself knocked on the shower door, asking him to hurry. "He told me that it was his shower since 14 years," Cobolli said. "So I think the best thing that I'm doing is the shower." There was something both absurd and touching in the image: a young player borrowing the ritual space of a legend, hoping some fraction of that success might transfer through tile and water.

Cobolli will face fellow Italian Matteo Arnaldi in Friday's semi-final. Arnaldi advanced when his opponent, Matteo Berrettini, retired from their quarter-final match due to a hip injury. That retirement guarantees an Italian finalist—a remarkable outcome given that Jannik Sinner, the overwhelming favorite, exited in the second round, and Lorenzo Musetti was ruled out before the tournament began. Cobolli, seeded tenth, will debut in the top ten rankings on Monday if he does not win the title. The only other top-ten seed remaining in the men's draw is Alexander Zverev, who faces Jakub Mensik in the other semi-final.

Cobolli's path to this moment has been built on small rituals and a willingness to fight when conditions turn against him. He came from a set down against a higher-ranked opponent in difficult circumstances and found a way through. Whether the shower cubicle matters or whether it is simply the story he tells himself about why he can win—the distinction may not matter much at all.