Former American men’s tennis great Andre Agassi reacted June 5 to the news that French Open semifinalist Matteo Arnaldi would not face fellow Italian Flavio Cobolli for a chance to meet Alexander Zverev in the final at Roland Garros, because of a virus Arnaldi contracted.
“I could have beat Arnaldi today, at 56 years old. If you don’t show up, you can’t win,” Agassi said. “It’s just disappointing. This tournament has been full of so many surprises. This is not the kind of surprise that anybody wants to see. … Physically, he would have had a chance to be at his best. But obviously, it was something that had better be unimaginable. Because it is a disappointment.”
“I can tell you if you’re throwing up, and if you’re not feeling well, you can see what tennis takes out of you,” Agassi continued. “With the amount of hours spent on court, if you’re not out there hydrated, you’re not out there prepared to go, it’s a futile effort anyhow. So I do feel bad for him. I feel bad for tennis as well.”
“It’s not what I wanted to do, but last night I started to feel not very well,” Arnaldi told reporters. “Like yesterday I was felling okay. … I woke up at 1 a.m. and I started vomiting. And I wasn’t like feeling the best. … I couldn’t sleep at all. At 6 (or) 7 a.m., I vomited again. This time was pretty bad. … I was hoping it would just be something from dinner or something like that. … 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 your first slam semifinal is not something that you wish to anybody.”
“I tried to get ready … and tried to see if I could go, but every time I get up, I feel dizzy,” Arnaldi added. “And I don’t feel like the best. And I’m pretty sure if I eat again, I’m not gonna feel like good. So that was the right decision for me to take.”
One day earlier, Agassi called out 2024 Cincinnati Open men’s singles champion and French Open top seed Jannik Sinner of Italy for his lack of preparation for a stunning second-round loss to No. 56 Juan Manuel Cerundolo earlier in the tournament.
In August 2025, Sinner retired just 23 minutes into the Cincinnati Open men’s singles final against Carlos Alcaraz.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Agassi disappointed over French Open semifinalist Arnaldi’s withdrawal
Reporting by Dave Clark, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Dave Clark, Cincinnati Enquirer | USA TODAY Network
