Flavio Cobolli produced the headline result in Saturday’s semi-finals at the BMW Open by Bitpanda, defeating defending champion and top seed Alexander Zverev to reach the final. The fourth seed dominated on Center Court at the MTTC Iphitos in front of a capacity crowd and in ideal conditions, striking 32 winners and losing just eight points on his first serve. Cobolli converted four of five break-point chances and closed the match in one hour and nine minutes.

“A friend of mine passed away yesterday. He was only 13 years old. This win is for him,” an emotional Cobolli said during his on-court interview.

“It was one of my best matches ever, against one of my best friends on Tour,” added the world No. 16, who recorded his first victory over Zverev in their third meeting. “He’s a really good guy and we have a great 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.”

Zverev acknowledged Cobolli’s level while reflecting on his own condition. “It was certainly one of his better matches,” said Zverev. “However, I’ve played a lot of tennis lately and my legs just weren’t there anymore. A few days off will definitely help. I’ll have six days until my next match, which is more than I’ve had recently. I’ll try to use that time wisely to be ready and perform well again in Madrid.”

The German, who turns 29 on Monday, added: “I’ll skip the party for now. I need to recover first.” He left open whether he will stick to his planned schedule of playing in Madrid, Rome and Hamburg, later noting, “Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner are handling it quite smartly by not playing every tournament. Paris is the big goal.”

Later, No. 2 seed Ben Shelton, runner-up to Zverev in Munich last year, beat Slovakian qualifier Alex Molcan 6-3, 6-4 to reach the final. Shelton fired six aces, won 73 percent of his first-service points and closed the match in one hour and 36 minutes. “Alex had beaten a bunch of great players throughout the week. The scoreline doesn’t show it, but it was a really tight match today,” he said. “It’s pretty cool to reach back-to-back finals here in Munich. That’s the first time I’ve achieved that feat. I love doing that here and it gives me a lot of confidence.”

Cobolli, a 23-year-old Florence native, is chasing his fourth tour-level title and second of the season after his win in Acapulco. He could claim his second ATP 500 trophy on German soil after Hamburg last year when he meets Shelton in the final; the American leads their head-to-head 3–2 and their only previous clay meeting was won by Cobolli at the Geneva Open in Switzerland in 2024.

Arthur Fils overcame a set deficit to defeat Rafael Jodar in the semifinals of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, winning 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. The victory marked multiple milestones in a single match for the 21-year-old Frenchman.

Fils erased the early advantage Jodar established when the Spanish teenager took the first set. He recovered by taking the second set 6-3 and then closed out the match 6-2 in the decider. The win ended Jodar’s eight-match winning streak that began with his first ATP title in Marrakech last week and continued with three more wins in Barcelona.

Jodar had also been riding a run of set dominance, having won 13 sets in a row before Fils rallied to halt that sequence. That combination of recent form and momentum made Fils’ comeback more significant.

Most notably, the win was the 100th tour-level victory of Fils’ career. At 21 years old, he became the first man born in 2004 or later to reach 100 tour-level wins. The result advances Fils to the Barcelona final and leaves Jodar’s surge halted at the semifinal stage.

The match underlined Fils’ capacity to close out big moments against an in-form opponent and provided a notable career landmark in the 2026 season. His progression through an ATP 500 event and the accumulation of 100 tour-level wins underline the trajectory he has followed in recent seasons.

Rafael Jodar, a 19-year-old from Madrid, announced himself as a genuine challenger on clay with a composed, powerful win that sent him into the Barcelona semifinals. The son and grandson who share his name has moved rapidly through the pro ranks this spring.

Jodar beat former Top 10 player Cam Norrie 6-3, 6-2 in 69 minutes, a result that echoed an identical scoreline the two produced in Acapulco earlier this year. It was his eighth consecutive victory and added to a resume that already includes the 2024 US Open boys’ title and an ATP trophy in Marrakesh two weeks ago. He is ranked 51st and is poised to move higher on Monday.

Standing 6’3″, Jodar mixes a flat bomb of a serve with a high kick second option and a forehand that blends pace and topspin. One commentator compared that forehand’s look to Arthur Fils. Yet it is Jodar’s two-handed backhand that drew the clearest notice. When he leans into it the stroke arrives with depth and bullet-like speed that repeatedly troubled Norrie.

A pivotal sequence came at 2-2 in the second set. Jodar reached break point twice and was repelled both times, and on the third occasion Norrie pulled off an excellent drop shot that seemed to shut the door. Jodar reversed direction mid-stride, put his racquet on the ball and redirected it into the open court for a winner and the break. “I think I handled the important moments and the pressure moments in the match very well,” Jodar said. “I think I played those points specifically very well.”

At 4-2 he again seized an opening with a powered backhand winner to close the match. If nerves were expected late, they never appeared.

With this run Jodar joins a rising class of young ATP hopefuls. On Saturday he will face Arthur Fils in what will be his stiffest test yet. “I’m super happy with my performance today,” Jodar said, “but I know I have to keep pushing.”