Jannik Sinner exited early and there's still an all-Italian semifinal at the French Open

PARIS (AP) — An Italian man will be in the French Open final and it’s not Jannik Sinner.

Not Lorenzo Musetti, either.

Flavio Cobolli will play fellow Italian Matteo Arnaldi on Friday in the first Grand Slam semifinal for both players.

Cobolli beat Felix Auger-Aliassime 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 and Arnaldi advanced when Matteo Berrettini, yet another Italian, retired because of an injury to his left hip with Arnaldi leading 7-5, 5-2 on Wednesday.

Berrettini had received treatment during a medical timeout earlier in the second set.

“We have to be happy for Italian tennis,” Cobolli said.

While Sinner and Musetti were both in the last four a year ago, they were on opposite sides of the draw, meaning it will mark the first all-Italian men’s semifinal in Grand Slam history.

It’s been exactly 50 years since an Italian man won the French Open and 1976 champion Adriano Panatta was asked before the tournament to present the Coupe des Mousquetaires trophy this year.

Cobolli comes from the same tennis club in Rome as Panatta, the Tennis Club Parioli.

Arnaldi said he first played Cobolli in the Italian under-14 championship: “We are good friends.”

Second-seeded Alexander Zverev and No. 26 Jakub Mensik will meet in the other semifinal.

While Italian tennis is booming, the 14th-ranked Cobolli, No. 104 Arnaldi and No. 105 Berrettini were not the Azzurri expected to get this far.

Top-ranked Sinner came to Paris on a 29-match winning streak and seemed destined to take the title after wasting three match points in the final against Carlos Alcaraz last year.

Musetti didn’t make it back to Roland Garros this year due to an injury.

But Cobolli, who at 24 is the same age as Sinner and Musetti, has dropped just two sets in five matches.

On a windy day inside Court Philippe-Chatrier, Auger-Aliassime whiffed on an overhead during the very first point of the match and also appeared disturbed when loud music was turned on accidentally over the stadium speakers during a key point later in the third set.

Still, the Canadian won the opening set — after which Cobolli left the court to regain his composure.

“I went to the toilet to think a bit, to change something,” Cobolli said. “I just said to myself to fight, because I felt like this is the chance of my life and I have to give everything.”

Cobolli was a talented soccer player and a member of Roma’s youth club until he decided to focus full-time on tennis. He was invited to join Paris Saint-Germain players when they brought soccer's Champions League trophy onto the tennis court earlier in the week.

No matter the result of his semifinal, Cobolli will enter the top 10 of the rankings for the first time next week. He could even have a trophy of his own to bring home.

This, Cobolli said, is “the best week of my life.”

Cobolli, who acknowledges that he’s superstitious, has been doing the same routine after every match.

“This week I’m a little bit more crazy,” he said, “I just go same restaurant, same menu, same shower.”

The shower he’s referring to in the French Open locker room was the one that record 14-time Roland Garros champion Rafael Nadal used to use.

Cobolli once stepped into the shower and Nadal showed up and told him to get moving.

“He told me that it was his shower since 14 years,” Cobolli said with a laugh.

Auger-Aliassime, who at No. 4 was the highest-seeded player remaining in the top half of the draw, said he was “destroyed” by the defeat.

“I’m in a place right now with my tennis career that it’s tough,” he said. “I feel like I’m not the player I want to be.”

As the crowd started filing into Court Philippe-Chatrier for the Arnaldi-Berrettini match, the arena’s announcer started talking in Italian: “Buongiorno e benvenuto a tutti a Roland Garros” – “Hello and welcome everyone to Roland Garros.”

“Les Italiens,” as they are referred to in French, are doing well not just in singles.

Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori will play in the mixed doubles final on Thursday and Vavassori and Simone Bolelli have advanced to the semifinals in men’s doubles.

Italy’s tennis success has come in sharp contrast to the struggles of its national soccer team, which failed to qualify for a third straight World Cup. The Azzurri soccer team played a lowly friendly against Luxembourg on Wednesday.

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

Italy's Matteo Arnaldi, left, talks to Italy's Matteo Berrettini who withdrw because of an injury during the quarterfinal tennis match at the French Open in Paris, Wednesday, June 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Italy's Matteo Arnaldi reacts during the quarterfinal tennis match against Italy's Matteo Berrettini at the French Open in Paris, Wednesday, June 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Italy's Flavio Cobolli reacts after winning the quarterfinal tennis match against Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime at the French Open in Paris, Wednesday, June 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

during the quarterfinal tennis match at the French Open in Paris, Wednesday, June 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)

Italy's Flavio Cobolli reacts after winning the quarterfinal tennis match against Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime at the French Open in Paris, Wednesday, June 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)

Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassimee wipes his face during the quarterfinal tennis match against Italy's Flavio Cobolli at the French Open in Paris, Wednesday, June 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)

Fans hold an Italian flag during the quarterfinal tennis match between Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime and Italy's Flavio Cobolli at the French Open in Paris, Wednesday, June 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

Italy's Flavio Cobolli reacts after winning the quarterfinal tennis match against Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime at the French Open in Paris, Wednesday, June 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans beat back several amendments Thursday as they worked to pass legislation to fund President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement agencies, turning aside a Democratic effort to permanently block Trump from creating a $1.776 billion settlement fund to allies who claim they were persecuted by the government.

But Republicans still faced a gauntlet of amendments before the bill could advance, a test of party unity that could go late into the night. The biggest threat to the bill could be another amendment to ban the settlement fund — this time from Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who lost reelection last month after Trump endorsed his primary opponent.

“I feel optimistic that we’ll get there in the end," Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said Thursday evening, while acknowledging he was not sure how the votes would turn out.

Thune has been pushing GOP senators for weeks to keep the bill focused on the funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol, which Democrats have blocked since early this year, and to avoid adding new provisions that could complicate its passage.

If an amendment limiting the settlement were to pass, Thune said, it would be “problematic” when they send the bill to the House. It could also mean a White House veto of the immigration spending bill, which has otherwise unified Trump and Republicans.

The last time the Senate abruptly changed a Homeland Security funding package, in March, the House simply refused to accept it and left town.

Still, the judgment fund, which was part of a settlement that resolves Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS over the leak of his tax returns, has angered many Republican senators.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said this week that the fund would not move forward. But Trump, who has been at odds with Senate Republicans in recent weeks, raised new doubts about the settlement’s future Wednesday afternoon — just after the Senate had voted to start debate on the immigration bill — when he told reporters that the settlement is “very important” and said “I don’t know” whether it is dead or on hold.

“I’d have to ask the lawyers,” he said.

The Democratic effort to ban the fund, the first vote of the day, was held open for around three hours as Cassidy, John Husted of Ohio and Dan Sullivan of Alaska withheld their votes. In the end, Cassidy voted against the Democratic motion and the two other GOP senators — both of whom are up for reelection this year — voted for it.

Senators defeated a second amendment from Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina that would also ban the settlement fund but would move the money to a separate anti-fraud fund at the Department of Justice. Most Democrats voted against the amendment, guaranteeing its defeat, but more than 10 Republicans supported it.

Tillis said the settlement fund, some of which could potentially go to Trump supporters who beat police and attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, is a political liability for the party.

“If Blanche says this is largely inoperative, why not use this moment to codify that?” Tillis said. “Otherwise, you’re exposing every one of our members who are in cycle to having to deal with this between today and Election Day, and that makes no sense for something that the DOJ says they’re not moving forward with."

It was unclear how Republicans would vote on additional amendments.

Cassidy, who had been in discussions all day with the Senate parliamentarian, said he still planned to offer an amendment to ban payouts from the settlement. He told reporters he may also offer an amendment to block a separate part of the settlement that would grant Trump and his family immunity from IRS audits.

Several Republican senators said they supported the idea but would have to see the final language before they decide. Sen. John Cornyn, who also lost reelection last month after Trump endorsed his opponent, said he agrees with the “thrust of it” but would wait to see the amendment. Republican Sen. John Curtis said the same.

Thune said it wasn't yet certain whether the final bill could pass without some sort of prohibition on the settlement.

“We’re going to find out soon enough,” he said Thursday evening.

Democrats planned other votes through the night, including on Trump's tariffs, his war with Iran and his immigration enforcement campaign.

“Amendment after amendment, vote after vote, Republicans are going to have to answer to the American people,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said.

Passage of the roughly $70 billion bill to fund U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol would end the blockade by Democrats who demanded policy changes after the fatal shootings of two protesters by federal agents in January. The bill would fund the agencies for three years, through the end of Trump’s term.

Senate Republicans are using a complicated procedural maneuver to get around the filibuster and pass the budget legislation with no Democratic votes. But it has taken weeks to get the bill to the Senate floor as Republicans navigated various obstacles to passage created by Trump and the White House — including a $1 billion proposal for White House security that they eventually scrapped and the fierce bipartisan backlash to the settlement fund.

Democrats say any funding bill for the Homeland Security Department should place restraints on federal immigration authorities, including better identification for federal officers and more use of judicial warrants, among other asks.

After federal agents shot Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, Trump agreed to a Democratic request that the Homeland Security bill be separated from a larger spending measure that became law. But bipartisan negotiations went nowhere, and the department funding lapsed in mid-February with no agreement on changes to the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement tactics.

Congress eventually funded the rest of the Homeland Security Department at the end of April with Democratic support. But ICE and Border Patrol remained without regular funding, and Republicans launched a new effort to pass three years of funding for those agencies with no Democratic votes.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., walks to the chamber during votes on the immigration enforcement funding package, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, June 4, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., walks to the chamber from his office at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, June 4, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin testifies before the House Committee on Homeland Security during a hearing on the Fiscal 2027 budget request for the Department of Homeland Security, in Washington, Wednesday, June 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., heads to the chamber before votes on the immigration enforcement funding package, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, June 4, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., pauses for questions from reporters before votes on the immigration enforcement funding package, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, June 4, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., joined from left by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., speaks to reporters after a closed-door meeting with fellow Republicans, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)