Munich
Cobolli blasts 32 winners in Zverev upset, reaches Munich final
Italian awaits Shelton or Molcan in Sunday’s final
April 18, 2026
BMW Open
Flavio Cobolli is into his fifth ATP Tour final.
By ATP Staff
Flavio Cobolli silenced a partisan home crowd on Saturday at the BMW Open by Bitpanda in Munich, where he powered past defending champion Alexander Zverev to book his place in the final.
The 23-year-old Italian delivered a superb all-round performance for a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Zverev, the No. 3 player in the PIF ATP Rankings. Cobolli struck 32 winners and lost just eight points on his first serve, according to Infosys ATP Stats, en route to his maiden win over a Top-5 opponent.
Third time’s a charm 💪
Flawless @cobollifla defeats defending champion Zverev for the first time 🔜 Munich final!@BMWOpen500 | #BMWOpenbyBitpanda pic.twitter.com/szUM2RSgYd
— ATP Tour (@atptour) April 18, 2026
“It was one of my best matches ever, against one of my best friends on Tour,” said Cobolli, who trails Zverev 1-2 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series. “He’s a really good guy ad we have a good relationship with everyone on his team, so it was a little bit tough to play against him. But today I think I played one of my best matches, and I’m really happy about my performance.”
With his 69-minute triumph, Cobolli became just the third player this season to reach ATP Tour finals on both clay and hard courts, joining Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner (Ben Shelton and Arthur Fils could also match that feat on Saturday). The Italian, who claimed the ATP 500 title in Acapulco in February, will face either American No. 1 Shelton or Slovakian qualifier Alex Molcan in Sunday’s final.
Cobolli settled quickly into the semi-final, using aggressive groundstrokes to move Zverev around the court while showcasing impressive speed and precision under pressure. The German, by contrast, struggled to find his rhythm and appeared out of sorts throughout, firing a costly double fault in the opening game of the second set to hand Cobolli a crucial break.
Up to No. 12 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, Cobolli is chasing his fourth ATP Tour title and third at ATP 500 level. After lifting his maiden trophy in Bucharest last year, he followed up with titles in Hamburg a few months later and Acapulco this season.
For Zverev, the defeat marks a fourth consecutive semi-final loss, having fallen to Sinner at three straight ATP Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells, Miami and Monte-Carlo.
