PARIS (AP) — Top-ranked Jannik Sinner was stunned in the French Open second round. Lorenzo Musetti, a semifinalist in 2025, didn’t make it back to Paris this year due to an injury.

Still, three Italian men have reached the last eight this year for the first time: Matteo Berrettini will play Matteo Arnaldi in the night session on Wednesday — which ensures at least one Italian in the semifinals — and Flavio Cobolli will meet Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime in another quarterfinal in the same half of the draw.

“It’s just good for Italian tennis,” Berrettini said.

Cobolli had never won a match on a center court at a Grand Slam until be beat American player Learner Tien in straight sets in the third round at Roland Garros. But he had already learned to play in a big spotlight in November when he won the decisive point for Italy third successive Davis Cup title at home in Bologna.

“The Davis Cup helped me handle the pressure in matches where there’s a lot on the line,” Cobolli said.

Tuesday is Italy’s National Day and Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassorri were playing in a doubles quarterfinal in Paris. Then on Wednesday, besides the Berrettini-Arnaldi and Cobolli-Auger-Aliassime singles matches, Sara Errani and Vavassori will play in the semifinals of mixed doubles.

“It just goes to show you that Italian tennis is tough,” said 1989 French Open champion Michael Chang, who coaches Tien. “To be able to win the Davis Cup even when Jannik’s not playing, the depth is very great there.”

Chang witnessed the country’s tennis boom recently at the Italian Open.

“Playing on courts outside of the Foro Italico, everyone’s playing tennis,” Chang said.

Cobolli was also a soccer player

The 24-year-old Cobolli was a talented soccer player and a member of Roma’s youth club until he decided to focus full-time on tennis.

He still prefers watching soccer to tennis, and went to watch Roma’s final game of the Serie A season at the “Roma Club Parigi” the night before his opening match in Paris.

“I play(ed) with many guys that now are doing pretty well, like (Arsenal fullback Riccardo) Calafiori, (Watford midfielder Edoardo) Bove, (Atalanta winger Nicola) Zalewski, (Lazio winger Matteo) Cancellieri,” Cobolli said. “We were in the same team, and we have a good relationship. If I win a good match, they write me, and the same with them.”

Cobolli comes from the same tennis club in Rome where 1976 French Open champion Adriano Panatta played, Tennis Club Parioli, and Panatta has been invited to award the men’s singles trophy on Sunday to recognize the 50th anniversary of his title.

The 14th-ranked Cobolli could rise as high as the top five if he wins the title.

Berrettini’s soul searching

Before Sinner exploded onto the scene, it was Berrettini leading the way when at Wimbledon in 2021 he became the first Italian man to reach a Grand Slam singles final since Panatta.

Nicknamed “The Hammer” for his big serve, Berrettini’s best surface is grass.

But a year after he lost the final to Djokovic at the All England Club, Berrettini withdrew from Wimbledon after testing positive for COVID-19 days after winning the Queen’s Club title.

Berrettini has been riddled with injuries for the past five years and hadn’t even played at the French Open since his memorable 2021 season.

When Berrettini lost in the second round of a Challenger event — tennis’ minor leagues — just before coming to Paris, he took a walk around after the loss in Valencia, Spain, and took stock of his life.

“I looked at people coming out of offices and parents bringing their kids home from school and I thought to myself, ‘There’s a world beyond (tennis).’ Sometimes it takes some perspective. People like Sinner who win all the time are just very unique. The rest of us need some losses now and then to rediscover the necessary energy. If everything went well all the time then I would be No. 1.”

Berretini’s ranking fell to No. 105 entering the French Open.

Arnaldi the marathon man

The 104th-ranked Arnaldi has played 18 sets in his four matches so far and won consecutive five setters. His total of 17 hours, 42 minutes on court to reach the quarterfinals easily surpassed the French Open record of 15 hours, 44 minutes established by Nicklas Kulti in 1992.

Arnaldi lost eight of his first 10 matches this year before he won seven straight on clay — four of them in deciding sets — across a Challenger in Cagliari and the opening two rounds of the Madrid Open.

Arnaldi reached a career-high ranking of No. 30 in 2024 before struggling last year with a right foot injury.

“In Cagliari I started to rediscover my confidence,” Arnaldi said, “and that’s what has made the difference.”

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AP Sports Writer Jerome Pugmire contributed.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis