Bolelli and Vavassori Stopped in the Semifinals: In Paris, the Ankle Decides

Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori were eliminated in the semifinals at Roland Garros, beaten by the draw's number 1 pair Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos 7-6, 6-4. The Italians, seeded number 5, paid the price for a right ankle injury Bolelli picked up in the first set.

The Bologna native slipped while chasing a ball and the ankle swelled up almost immediately. Bolelli chose to stay on court with a heavy strapping, moving very little for the rest of the match and effectively leaving Vavassori to cover the court on his own. The first set had been decided in a tie-break, won by the Spaniards 7-4, while in the second the decisive break came in the tenth game.

The defending champions thus confirmed their dominance on the Parisian clay and will move on to the final. For Bolelli and Vavassori, there remains the regret of a contest that, until the injury, had stayed perfectly balanced against the tournament's strongest pair.

Their place in the semifinals had come at the end of a grueling quarterfinal against Petr Nouza and Neil Oberleitner, beaten 6-7, 6-1, 7-6 after saving match points in the decisive tie-break. The run ends here, but it puts the Italian pair back among the last four at a Major, two years after the final they reached at Roland Garros itself in 2024.