Cobolli-Zverev, Second Take: The Munich rematch is worth a spot in the Madrid semifinals

Flavio Cobolli defeated Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 in two hours and twenty minutes at the 2026 Mutua Madrid Open, reaching the first Masters 1000 quarterfinal of his career. On Thursday, April 30, he will face Alexander Zverev in a rematch of the Munich semifinal, won by the Italian two weeks ago.

At 23, the world No. 13 from Italy arrives at the most important match of his season with the wind at his back: 10th seed in Madrid, he eliminated Medvedev in the fourth round and now faces a two-time champion of the tournament (2018 and 2021), the second favorite in the draw. In their head-to-head Zverev leads 2-1, but their last meeting was on April 18 in Munich, where Cobolli prevailed 6-3, 6-3 with 32 winners, losing only eight points on his first serve. That week in Bavaria the Italian went on to reach the final, where he was beaten by Ben Shelton 6-2, 7-5.

Madrid 2026 is becoming the breakthrough tournament for Cobolli on the fast red clay of the Spanish plateau. Beating Medvedev in three sets, in a match where the Russian had managed to claw back the second set, says something about a player who has learned to handle tough moments without coming apart. The quarterfinal against Zverev, scheduled for 8:00 PM local time on Manolo Santana, will be the real test: it's one thing to beat a top 5 in an ATP 250, quite another to do it again on the biggest stage, against an opponent who has already digested the Munich loss.