Flavio Cobolli lost seven matches in a row earlier this season. Fast forward four months and he suddenly finds himself in the Wimbledon fourth round, with a great chance to reach the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam.
“It’s something that I dreamed (of) a lot, since when I start to play tennis,” Cobolli commented. “Especially here, it’s fantastic to reach the fourth round.”
The Italian advanced through his third-round match in surprisingly swift fashion, erasing Jakub Mensik 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 on Saturday afternoon. Cobolli struck 12 more winners and 21 fewer unforced errors compared to his opponent while cruising in one hour and 48 minutes.
“I think I played one of the best matches ever of my life,” the 23-year-old assessed during his post-match press conference. “I think almost perfect.”
Cobolli hasn’t been perfect since his early-season skid that spanned January, February, and March, but he has been quite good. The world No. 24 won the first two ATP titles of his career and Bucharest and Hamburg (both on clay), reached round three of the French Open, advanced to the Halle quarterfinals, and is now one win away from the last eight at Wimbledon.
“I started the year very bad, and one big victory like in Bucharest or in Hamburg made me (feel) something in my stomach,” Cobolli commented. “It changed a lot. I try to be better also outside the court. I try to do the right things to be better in the court and outside the court. I think it’s changing something, and also with the team I work a little bit better.”
The 22nd seed is playing a lot better–especially on grass, the surface on which he has the least experience. His grass record in 2025 is 5-2, with defeats of Joao Fonseca and Denis Shapovalov in Halle (both in third-set tiebreakers) followed by straight-set victories in SW19 over Beibit Zhukayev, Jack Pinnington Jones, and Mensik.
“I think [grass] is good for me, because I think I have one of the best returns on the tour,” Cobolli explained. “When you return on this surface, it’s good. It makes me happy. I don’t know why, but I really like to play [on it].”
So does Grigor Dimitrov, who also advanced to the last 16 by beating Sebastian Ofner on Saturday. This marks the 34-year-old Bulgarian’s fifth trip to the second week at the All-England Club, including his third in a row. He was a semifinalist in 2014.
Jannik Sinner is next up for Dimitrov after the world No. 1 destroyed Pedro Martinez 6-1, 6-3, 6-1.
Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on Twitter at @Dimonator.