Flavio Cobolli is among a group of players proving that there is more to Italian tennis than Jannik Sinner at Wimbledon.
The 24-year-old surged into the quarter-finals on Monday with a comprehensive win over Alex de Minaur, who is left contemplating his future. It was the first meeting between two top-10 players in this year’s draw. Cobolli is the third male player from his country to reach the last eight at Wimbledon on multiple occasions after Sinner and Nicola Pietrangeli. Last year, he was beaten in the last eight by Novak Djokovic.
Cobolli entered this year’s tournament having contested his first Grand Slam final at the French Open, which he lost to Alexander Zverev. Earlier this season, he also won an ATP 500 title in Mexico.
“Maybe no one expected me to win today, and that—when it comes time to play—gives me a lot of strength and determination,” Cobolli told Italian reporters on Monday after beating de Minaur. “Seeing that I’m such an underdog fills me with energy, and today I think a lot of people regretted a bit having written me off.”
Cobolli uses the same mentality when it comes to living in the shadows of Sinner and also Lorenzo Musetti, who is currently sidelined by injury. Even though he is his country’s second-best player and is ranked 10th in the world.
“I’m the one trailing behind—until recently, maybe even behind Lorenzo. That made me feel very calm; it allowed me to focus on myself.” He explains.
“There’s a lot of pressure on Jannik, and that takes a lot of it off me—which, on the one hand, is a good thing.
“On the other hand, it’s also a bad thing, because sometimes I’d like to be appreciated a little more and have some extra credit given to me as well.”
Italy has three players in the singles quarter-finals, including Jasmine Paolini in the women’s draw. This was also the case in 2024. The European nation has been thriving in the sport for a few years now, but it is somewhat different on grass.
“Like all Italians, we don’t play on grass in junior tournaments,” Cobolli explained.
“We’ve never even tried it once, so we’re unprepared. It’s rare for an Italian to like grass in the early years. But then you have to be good at improving yourself.
“I really want to improve and not waste weeks on the schedule, because in the end, you only play on grass for a month, and it’s important to do well here too (at Wimbledon).”
Cobolli has reached six ATP quarter-finals on the Tour so far this season.
