Arnaldi withdraws before French Open semi-final with virus

Flavio Cobolli has reached the French Open final after his fellow Italian, Matteo Arnaldi, withdrew minutes before their scheduled semi-final clash. The match was set to take place on Court Philippe Chatrier at 18:00 BST on Friday, with a place in a Grand Slam final at stake for the two friends.

Arnaldi's withdrawal was announced just 20 minutes prior to the players' intended on-court appearance. This development means that the world number 14, Cobolli, advances directly to Sunday's Roland Garros showpiece event. He is now set to compete against the second seed and a strong favorite for the title, Alexander Zverev.

Matteo Arnaldi's journey to the semi-finals was arduous, having spent a total of 19 hours and 42 minutes on court. This is the longest duration any player has spent on court en route to the last four of a major tournament since 1991, highlighting the physical toll the tournament has taken on him.