Flavio Cobolli advances in D.C. and throws down challenge to'home idol

Two Italian tennis players have qualified for the round of 16 of the Washington ATP tournament: in addition to Matteo Arnaldi, who beat Lorenzo Sonego in the tricolor derby, the Italian night between Wednesday and Thursday also saw Flavio Cobolli get a pass for the third round of the tournament, thanks to a two-sets-to-zero victory over Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka.

The Roman won 6-2, 7-6(3) in the match played on the concrete of the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center, thus giving himself an important challenge against a tennis player born just a few miles from Washington, Frances Tiafoe, the tournament’s No. 6 seed and current No. 11 in the ATP rankings. Tiafoe beat compatriot Aleksandar Kovacevic 7-5, 3-6, 6-3. The match between Cobolli and Tiafoe will be played on the Italian night between Thursday and Friday.

Cobolli, with his success against Nishioka, confirmed his positive momentum: in fact, since the first round of Wimbledon, the 2002-born tennis player has won eight of his last nine matches played, with the’only defeat coming in the quarterfinals of the London Grand Slam tournament at the hands of Novaj Djokovic, by three sets to one.

In contrast, Beibit Zhukayev, Jack Pinnington Jones, Jakub Mensik and Marin Cilic fell in front of the Azzurri at Wimbledon, Duje Ajdukovic, Richard Gasquet and Felix Auger-Aliassime at the Hopman Cup played in Bari (with Italy finishing second after losing in the final against Canada), before tonight’s success against Nishioka.