Flavio Cobolli ended top seed Alexander Zverev's Munich Open title defence on Saturday as the Italian breezed past the world No 3 in straight sets to book his place in the final against Ben Shelton.
Two TRUE entertainers 🎭@cobollifla and @BenShelton will vie for the Munich title!@BMWOpen500 | #BMWOpenbyBitpanda pic.twitter.com/z1tpJPKp1x
— ATP Tour (@atptour) April 18, 2026
Fourth seed Cobolli downed the home favourite 6-3, 6-3 in just under 70 minutes in their semifinal meeting.
The 23-year-old's blistering performance put paid to Zverev's hopes for a record fourth title on the red dirt in Munich.
Third time's a charm 💪
— ATP Tour (@atptour) April 18, 2026
Flawless @cobollifla defeats defending champion Zverev for the first time 🔜 Munich final!@BMWOpen500 | #BMWOpenbyBitpanda pic.twitter.com/szUM2RSgYd
"It was one of my best matches ever against one of my biggest friends on tour," Cobolli said.
"I'm a little bit shy when I play with a big player, but today I played one of my best performances and I'm really happy."
Cobolli edged ahead of Zverev when he broke the German to love in the fourth game of the first set.
Zverev struggled to make inroads on Cobolli's serve over the course of the match, and when the world number 16 pounced on his opponent's first service game of the second set the writing was on the wall for Zverev.
Two punishing crosscourt forehands followed up by a crisp volley to finish off game seven secured Cobolli a double break and gave him the chance to serve for the match.
But Zverev hit back immediately as he secured his first break points of the encounter, converting at the second time of asking to halt his opponent.
A brilliant forehand on the run handed Cobolli match point in the next game and when Zverev framed a deep return the match was decided.
Raining winners ☔️😱
— ATP Tour (@atptour) April 18, 2026
Check out this back-to-back brilliance from @cobollifla to lead [1] Zverev 6-3@BMWOpen500 | #BMWOpenbyBitpanda pic.twitter.com/TU4mUk9Mgo
Cobolli advances to his second final of the season, where he will look to add to the title he picked up in Acapulco in February.
Shelton, who later Saturday beat qualifier Alex Molcan 6-3, 6-4, will be the man standing in Cobolli's way as the American seeks to go one better than last year when he lost the Munich title match to Zverev.
Back-to-back Munich finals for @BenShelton! 👏@BMWOpen500 | #BMWOpenbyBitpanda pic.twitter.com/HiKbWTAJyr
— ATP Tour (@atptour) April 18, 2026
Second seed Shelton broke in the sixth game of the first set to get his nose in front against the 166th-ranked Slovakian and then secured a crucial second break of the match to go 5-4 up in the final set.
The 23-year-old was on form with his serve as Molcan managed to engineer just one break point across the two sets, which Shelton saved.