Italian tennis star Flavio Cobolli is riding the wave of the best Grand Slam stretch of his career after knocking out Australian fifth seed Alex de Minaur at Wimbledon on Monday, winning 7-5, 7-6(4), and 6-3 to advance to the quarter-finals.
The 24-year-old, seeded ninth in the tournament, secured his spot in the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the second consecutive year — a remarkable achievement coming just weeks after finishing as runner-up at the French Open.
Monday’s victory was notable as the first time two top-10 men’s players faced each other in the draw this year. Cobolli seized control early, forcing a backhand error to break De Minaur’s serve in the 11th game of the opening set, closing out the set in just 50 minutes.
The second set brought a dramatic twist when play was briefly interrupted after a spectator fell ill in the stands. Rather than letting the stoppage break his focus, Cobolli used the downtime to chat casually with fans courtside. He then stormed back from a 2-5 deficit, winning three straight games before ultimately claiming the set in a tiebreak.
Cobolli carried that same aggressive energy into the third set, recovering from an 0-2 hole and breaking De Minaur’s serve again in the sixth game to put the match away and seal the victory.
Looking ahead, Cobolli will face either British hopeful Arthur Fery or Bulgarian veteran Grigor Dimitrov in the quarter-finals — both players having performed strongly at the All England Club over the past week.
