Cocciaretto feat: there's the hand of Sofia Goggia

The biggest highlight of the day at Wimbledon for Italian tennis is surely the crazy feat of Elisabetta Cocciaretto, who eliminated none other than world number three Jessica Pegula in the first round. The Marche tennis player after the match at a press conference revealed the crucial role played by Sofia Goggia: the skier, one of her sports idols, spoke to her on the eve of her debut.

“I talked to her on Monday and she gave me a lot of advice that I will carry with me for life. I had actually looked for her in Rome, but I was told she was coming for the final, so it was hard for me…Finally through Armani I was able to contact her and on Monday she was the one who called me : ‘Eli, if you want I am free now’”.

“It’s been a beautiful thing, and if I was a fan of hers before, now I am three times more so because it is not easy for a champion to dedicate one’hour of her time to you”.

The champion from Bergamo gave her several important pieces of advice: “She told me that she watches her opponents, of course, to see what they do best, but she is mostly focused on herself. Here, I used to pay too much attention to what was around me in the past, but today I went on the court without thinking that on the other side there was the number three player in the world. Had it been Sabalenka or a qualifier, I would have behaved the same way. Yes, I really think I clicked today…”.