Flavio Cobolli Speaks Candidly About Jannik Sinner: “It’s Different for Him”

Flavio Cobolli is the man of the day at Wimbledon: the Roman tennis player advanced to the quarterfinals of the London tournament thanks to a three-set victory over Alex De Minaur, and will now face either Dimitrov or Fery. After the match, the Italian also spoke about Jannik Sinner.

“Many people underestimate me, but that means I have less pressure, and that gives me a lot of energy. For Jannik, however, it’s different because he has more pressure. I’m the one trailing behind—until recently, even behind Lorenzo Musetti—and that’s kept me very calm. The pressure is all on Jannik, which takes a lot of it off me, and that’s a good thing for me. Then again, maybe it’s also a bad thing because sometimes I’d like to be appreciated a little more…”.

“I really enjoy playing on grass, but specifically at Wimbledon. Because it’s different. I find it to be a completely different surface—in a class of its own, unlike any other. I play very well on this grass. I’m happy and proud of how I’m playing and how I’m approaching my matches.”.

Analysis of the match against De Minaur: “I think Alex is a phenomenal player. Beating him today makes me feel ready, especially 3-0. He gave me a lot to work with, and I think he gave my opponents a lot to work with too. No one expected me to win today, and that gives me a lot of strength. Seeing that I was such a huge underdog really fires me up. And today, I think pretty much everyone has second thoughts. But I’ll say it again: Alex is out of this world.”

A victory that’s doubly valuable in terms of the rankings: Cobolli, currently ranked No. 10 in the world after his Roland Garros final—where he lost in five sets to Alexander Zverev—doesn’t lose any points compared to last year’s quarterfinal run, and in fact can only improve his ranking. Born in 2002, in Florence but raised in Rome, the Roman is consistently proving that he is firmly among the best in the world.