ATP Tour

Cobolli hits 32 winners in Zverev upset, Shelton awaits in Munich final

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 and 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. American No. 1 Ben Shelton then matched that feat with his 6-3, 6-4 victory over Slovakian qualifier Alex Molcan to return to the Munich final for the second consecutive year.

Cobolli settled quickly into the semi-final, using aggressive groundstrokes to move Zverev — the three-time Munich champion — 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. 13 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, Cobolli is chasing his fourth ATP Tour title and third at ATP 500 level. Prior to his win over Zverev, Cobolli was 1-16 against Top-10 players, with the only victory coming when No. 9 Holger Rune retired after the first set of their Madrid clash last year.

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.

In Saturday’s second semi-final, Shelton delivered a composed display to end the run of World No. 166 Molcan and ensure he will have another shot at lifting the Munich trophy on Sunday. The American fell to Zverev in last year’s final and will take a 3-2 Lexus ATP Head2Head lead into his clash with Cobolli, whom he beat on all three occasions in 2025.

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Shelton is into his seventh ATP Tour final and fifth at ATP 500 level after winning titles in Tokyo in 2023 and Dallas in February, when he saved three championship points to defeat countryman Taylor Fritz. With his semi-final win in Munich, Shelton ensured he will remain as the American No. 1 on Monday.

As well as becoming just the fourth man born in the 2000s to reach five ATP 500 title matches, Shelton is the first American to reach back-to-back finals on European clay since Jim Courier at Roland Garros in 1991-93.