Flavio Cobolli Urges His Girlfriend to ‘Stay Home’ After Losing Munich Open Final
Ben Shelton clinched his fourth victory over Flavio Cobolli in their sixth meeting.
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Flavio Cobolli made a hilarious remark about his girlfriend after his Munich defeat (Image via X/Jose Morgado, Tennis TV)
- Ben Shelton won the Munich Open, defeating Flavio Cobolli 6-2, 7-5 for his second title of the season.
- Cobolli humorously urged his girlfriend to "stay home" after his loss, referencing a previous conversation.
- Shelton aims to improve on clay courts, marking his first top 20 win on the surface with this victory.
Ben Shelton lifted his second title of the season in the Munich Open. On Sunday (April 19), the American ace registered a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Flavio Cobolli, winning his career’s fifth singles title in his seventh final.
The victory helped Shelton improve his head-to-head record over the Italian ace to 4-2. For Cobolli, it was also his second final of the season after the Mexican Open, where he clinched his third singles title against Frances Tiafoe. The World No.16, during the runner-up speech after his latest defeat, cracked up the crowd when he made a playful remark to his girlfriend, Matilde Galli, whom he has been dating since 2021.
I called my girlfriend yesterday. I told her: ‘Please, don’t let me lose,’ but she did it anyway… Maybe you should stay home next time!
Flavio Cobolli said
Cobolli was chasing the third ATP 500 title of his career following the 2025 Hamburg European Open and this year’s Mexican Open. Cobolli will next be seen in action at the Madrid Open, the main draw of which is set to start on April 22.
He will be playing in the Spanish capital for the third time in his career. In his previous two appearances (in 2023 and 2024), Cobolli suffered third-round exits. After Madrid, Cobolli will play the home tournament, the Italian Open, where he has yet to progress beyond the second round, reaching the stage in 2024. Last year, he suffered an opening-round exit.
Ben Shelton has big ambitions on clay-courts
Last year in the same tournament, home favorite Alexander Zverev denied Ben Shelton the second clay-court title of his career. Before winning the Munich title, the lone victory that the 23-year-old registered on clay was at the 2024 U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships by defeating Frances Tiafoe. Shelton, with his latest win, recorded his first top-20 clay-court victory.
I came out at a really high level and have done that before against him. The toughest thing is maintaining it as he raises his level. I managed to do that in the second set and played some great tennis. I am happy with my performance this week. I got better and better as the week went on, and I am happy with the work me and the team put in.
Ben Shelton said during his on-court interview
The victory has made Shelton the first American to win a title above the ATP 250 level on clay since Andre Agassi at the 2002 Italian Open. The only time Shelton dropped a set in the tournament was against Joao Fonseca in the quarterfinals and against compatriot Emilio Nava in the round of 32.
I have big ambitions for the clay courts. It is a surface I want to get better on each year. It is slowly becoming one of my favorite surfaces to play on.
Ben Shelton added
Shelton will next be seen in action at the Madrid Open, where he has yet to advance past the third round. Last year, too, he lost in the third round. The lone trophy that Shelton won in a Masters 1000 tournament was in last year’s Canadian Open by defeating Karen Khachanov. In the clay-court Masters 1000 events, Shelton has never progressed beyond the quarterfinals.
Shelton has reached the quarterfinals of every tournament but the French Open. He produced his best performance in the tournament last year by reaching the fourth round. Shelton skipped this year’s Monte-Carlo Masters to manage his schedule. Before the Munich Open, Shelton lifted his first title of the season at the Dallas Open by defeating his compatriot Taylor Fritz.
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