Flavio Cobolli was left in tears at the Vienna Open after retiring from his match against Matteo Berrettini.
Cobolli has enjoyed the best season of his career so far in 2026, which has seen him reach the final of Roland Garros and win his third ATP title in Acapulco.
As a result of this, Cobolli has put himself in a strong position to qualify for the year-end ATP Finals, which will once again be held in Turin, Italy.
Cobolli was hoping to confirm his qualification at the Vienna Open, but concerns have now been raised about whether he will be able to return to court again this year after he retired with injury during his match against his compatriot, Berrettini.
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Flavio Cobolli explains why he was so emotional after retiring in Vienna
Cobolli had never played Berrettini before, but found himself 5-2 down in the first set against his fellow Italian. Cobolli appeared to be struggling with a leg issue, and broke down in tears during the change of ends at 5-2 down, as he was joined by Berrettini on the bench.
At this point, Cobolli decided that it was best to retire from the match, as the tears continued as he left the court to a warm reception from the Vienna Open crowd.
With a lot of concern about the severity of this injury for Cobolli ahead of an important few weeks at the end of the season, he released a statement on his Instagram story to clarify his situation.
In this statement, Cobolli apologised to the Vienna Open crowd for being unable to finish the match, as he revealed that he had actually felt a physical issue in his previous match. Cobolli also explained why he was so emotional, as he confirmed that it was not related to the pain he was feeling and stated his intent to return to court next week at the Paris Masters.
“Vienna, I’m sorry to leave like this,” wrote Cobolli. “I love this tournament and was really looking forward to facing Matteo with you all in the stands. I felt something during my match the other night, but I wanted to give it a go. Today I realised I couldn’t keep going without pushing it too far, so I had to stop.
“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. I’ll have more tests tomorrow and update you as soon as I can. Don’t worry, I’m hoping to be back on court in Paris. Thanks for all the love.”
What does Flavio Cobolli need to qualify for the ATP Finals?
With just two weeks of tournaments left to go to confirm the eight players at this year’s ATP Finals in Turin, there are still only three players that have officially qualified for the year-end tournament. Those players are Alexander Zverev, Carlos Alcaraz and Ben Shelton, with Jannik Sinner missing the rest of the season due to his knee injury.
Leading the line for the remaining players who are hoping to qualify for the ATP Finals is Daniil Medvedev, who is just one win away from booking his return to Turin. Despite his retirement in Vienna, Cobolli is still in a strong position to qualify for the ATP Finals, with only Arthur Fils able to overtake him this week.
The list of remaining players who can qualify for the ATP Finals this year goes all the way down to Tommy Paul in 13th position, with Frances Tiafoe and Rafael Jodar currently occupying the final qualification spots.
- 5. Daniil Medvedev – 3710 points (Vienna QF)
- 6. Flavio Cobolli – 3680 points
- 7. Arthur Fils – 3525 points (Basel QF)
- 8. Frances Tiafoe – 3380 points
- 9. Rafael Jodar – 3184 points
- 10. Alex de Minaur – 2930 points (Vienna QF)
- 11. Novak Djokovic – 2890 points
- 12. Taylor Fritz – 2785 points (Basel QF)
- 13. Tommy Paul – 2725 points (Vienna QF)
A lot can change before Cobolli next plans to return to court at the Paris Masters, as his fate may already be sealed by the forthcoming results in Vienna and Basel this week.
The main thing for Cobolli now is to do everything he can ahead of his final tournaments of the year at the Paris Masters and his potential debut at the ATP Finals, before he concludes his season by attempting to help Italy win a fourth consecutive Davis Cup title.
