LONDON: After reaching new heights in his career at Wimbledon, Flavio Cobelli believes the key for him now is to have as much fun as possible for the rest of the tournament.
The Italian 22nd seed continued his breakthrough run at The All England Club with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-7(4), 7-6(3), win over former finalist Marin Cilic. Cobolli is only playing in the main draw at Wimbledon for the second time in his career. Until this tournament, he had never gone beyond the third round of a major event.
Despite his inexperience, Coboilli has dropped only one set in four matches played at the tournament so far. Earlier in the draw, he also knocked out 15th seed Jakub Mensik.
“I love to play against a big player, against a legend of our sport. I like to play on this kind of stage, this kind of tournament. I love to play here in Wimbledon. I love to play on grass,” he said after beating Cilic.
“I’m really emotional because this is the day that I will never forget, for sure. I played a good match today. I’m very proud of myself, about my attitude on the court. I believed since the first point of the match to win today.”
The triumph was also an emotional one for Cobolli’s family. He is coached by his father Stefano, who was in tears after seeing his son book a place in the last eight of a major. Stefano is a former player himself who played in the qualifying tournament at Wimbledon back in 2004 when he was beaten in the first round by Robert Kendrick.
“They always let me be free since I was young. They always help me grow up like this. They are really important to me.” Cobolli said of his family.
There is little time for the 23-year-old to celebrate with a showdown against seven-time champion Novak Djokovic on Wednesday. Djokovic beat Alex de Minaur in four sets but was far from his best.
Besides taking on one of the sport’s all-time greats, Cobolli will also have his first taste of what it is like playing on one of Wimbledon’s premier courts – Centre Court or Court One. However, this isn’t the most important thing for him.
“I don’t want to think about the court. I just want to enjoy the day,” he explains.
“I want to be positive and I want to be like I did in the first four rounds. I want to play my game. I don’t want to think about the other player. I want to think about myself. I want to have fun at every point I play at this stage.”
Next week, Cobolli will make his top 20 debut in the ATP PIF rankings for the first time as a result of his Wimbledon run.
