Flavio Cobolli hopes to play at the Paris Masters despite retiring in tears from his match at the Vienna Open.
The Italian world No.6 was forced to retire when down 2-5 to compatriot Matteo Berrettini in what was the first Tour-level meeting between the two. Towards the end of the match, Cobolli was crying on the chair and Berrettini came over to console him.
Cobolli’s setback comes as he chases after a spot in the ATP Finals in Turin for the first time. He is currently in sixth place but could be overtaken by Arthur Fils this week, who is still playing at the Swiss Indoors. Only the top eight players will qualify for the event, but one of them, Jannik Sinner, will not play due to injury.
“Vienna, I’m sorry to leave like this. I love this tournament and was really looking forward to facing Matteo with all of you in the stands,” Cobolli wrote on Instagram.
“I felt something during my match the other night, but I wanted to give it a go. Today (Thursday) I realised I couldn’t keep going without pushing it too far, so I had to stop.”
Addressing his emotions during the match, Cobolli said it was a combination of stress and disappointment, not pain. He hasn’t disclosed the exact issue he is suffering from. It has been speculated that the problem could be a muscle injury in his thigh or groin area, but this hasn’t been confirmed. He will undergo tests to understand the problem better.
“Those tears weren’t from pain. Just emotion, maybe a little stress, and the disappointment of having to leave the court when all I wanted was to stay out there,” he said.
“I’ll have more tests tomorrow (Friday) and update you as soon as I can. Don’t worry, I’m hoping to be back on court in Paris!”
There isn’t much time for Cobolli to recover with the Paris Masters starting next week. He reached the second round of the tournament last year before losing to Ben Shelton.
Cobolli has won 36 matches this season, which is a career best. He has won one title so far in 2026 at the Acapulco Open in Mexico.
