Russian number one Daniil Medvedev continues his path to the 2024 US Open. Our eminent compatriot reached the third round in New York, where a tough opponent awaits him. Daniil will have to compete for the round of 16 with Flavio Cobolli, who is ranked 31st in the ATP rankings.
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He could have become a professional footballer.
Born in Florence in 2002, Flavio Cobolli is one of those kids who were born to do any physical activity. His father was a good tennis player and was even ranked 236th in the men’s world rankings. Cobolli Jr. picked up a racket for the first time at the age of two.
At one point, Flavio was playing football four days a week and tennis twice. An 11-year-old boy even scored a goal in a youth derby against Lazio!… However, three years later, Cobolli decided to quit football, saying he preferred to win on his own.
“I was a full-back who ran a lot but was afraid to attack. I always left the field with a clean uniform. If I had continued with the same spirit, I could be playing in Serie A now,” admitted Cobolli in an interview with Il Messaggero.
Flavio Cobolli
Photo: Charlie Crowhurst/Getty Images
Flavio’s favourite football club is Roma and his athlete is Francesco Totti. The tennis player even attended the final of the Europa League of the 2023/2024 season in Budapest, where the Romans lost to Sevilla on penalties. The 22-year-old Florentine is on friendly terms with Loba midfielder Edoardo Bove. Cobolli calls his tour mates Matteo Gigante and Luca Nardi his best friends. Flavio’s favourite shot is the forehand, the surface is clay and the athlete also loves pizza and lasagna.
The world number 31 admits that his idols in the world of tennis are the legendary Serbian Novak Djokovic and the eminent compatriot Fabio Fognini.
“I grew up watching Fabio’s matches and I tried to improve my game by watching him, so I remember a lot of his matches. I don’t usually like watching matches, but I do like watching Fognini’s matches. When Fabio plays, I watch TV. When Fognini doesn’t play, I don’t watch anything,” Cobolli is quoted as saying by the ATP’s official website.
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Flavio’s career.
Cobolli’s first real debut in tennis came in 2017, when he took part in the ITF Junior Circuit. In the same season, in Győr, Hungary, the athlete became doubles champion together with Lorenzo Rottoli at the European Summer Youth Olympic Festival, defeating Russians Egor Agafonov and Alibek Kachmazov in the final. A year later, Flavio joined the Italian junior tennis team together with Lorenzo Musetti and Luca Nardi. Note that the Florentine is the winner of a junior major in doubles (French Open 2020).
But the public really started talking about Cobolli in the 2021 season. For the first time in his career, Flavio reached the final of a local rival in Rome, where he lost to Juan Manuel Cerundolo from Argentina. At the same time, the young Italian scored his first victory in an ATP tournament match, defeating Marcos Girón in a competition held in Parma. And in March 2022, Cobolli won his debut trophy at the Challenger! This happened in Croatian Zadar.
Flavio Cobolli
Photo: From the tennis player’s personal archive.
In October 2023, Flavio broke into the top 100 of the ATP rankings for the first time in his career. In general, this particular season can be considered one of the most successful in the career of a Florentine. Judge for yourself: debut in the quarter-finals of the ATP tournament in Munich, second title at the Challenger, as well as qualification for Roland Garros and the Rome Masters. As a result, at the end of that season, Cobolli qualified for the Next Gen ATP Finals. True, in his quartet Flavio only took third place, behind Arthur Fiss and Dominique Stricker.
Brilliant season 2024
The Italian is having a great year this year. Already at the beginning of the season, Cobolli managed to reach the third round of the Slam for the first time. Flavio managed to get this far at the Australian Open. The 31st racket of the world also spent the part of the year excellently on clay. So, in Madrid, for the first time, he reached the third round of the “thousand” (he lost to our Karen Khachanov), and in Geneva – to his debut semi-final of the ATP tournament (he was defeated by Casper Ruud).
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By the way, in the 2024 season, Cobolli signed a contract with the famous clothing and footwear brand On. One of its investors is the 20-time Grand Slam champion and former world number one Roger Federer. Recall that the Swiss began investing in On in 2019. Now the brand can boast of active cooperation with such top players as the leader of the WTA rankings, Pole Iga Swiatek, and number 13 in the ATP rankings, 21-year-old American Ben Shelton.
Flavio Cobolli
Photo: From the tennis player’s personal archive.
And Cobolli gave himself and his fans a real treat this year at the 500 in Washington, which takes place shortly before the US Open. In the US capital, Flavio entered the title race in ATP competitions for the first time in his career! Only in the decisive match did the Italian representative fail to stand up to the master of the courts, Sebastian Korda.
At the American Major, Cobolli already repeated his best result at the TBS, reaching the third round. Next up, the 22-year-old will face a real test in the form of a battle with the world’s fifth-ranked player, Daniil Medvedev. This will be the first head-to-head battle between representatives of the ATP circuit, so the match is sure to be exciting!
The fight between Daniil and Flavio will take place tomorrow, September 1. Follow all the events of the US Open 2024 in the “Championship”.
