Having revealed several superstitions in his on-court interview – thanking the crowd in French, maintaining the same racquet tension no matter the conditions and keeping the same post-match routine – Cobolli was asked about them in his press conference.
“I’m a little bit [superstitious] but not crazy – this week I’m a little bit more crazy than the others,” he said. “I just go to the same restaurant, the same menu, the same shower.”
Cobolli then recalled a moment at a previous French Open when he was using the shower and Nadal knocked on the door asking him to hurry up because he was waiting to use that particular cubicle.
“He told me that it was his shower since 14 years,” continued Cobolli. “So I think the best thing that I’m doing is the shower.”
Cobolli recovered from losing the first set to beat Auger-Aliassime 4-6 6-4 6-4 6-4 and he will make his top-10 debut on Monday if Jakub Mensik, who faces Alexander Zverev in the other semi-final, fails to win the title in Paris.
Arnaldi’s win in Wednesday’s night session means an Italian finalist is guaranteed, even after the shock second-round exit of overwhelming favourite Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti being ruled out of the tournament because of injury.