Wimbledon marks the first Grand Slam in which Flavio Cobolli has reached the quarter-finals.
23-year-old Cobolli defeated a resurgent Marin Cilic in four sets to reach the last eight.
The Italian backed up that victory with a comprehensive 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 win against 15th seed Jakub Mensik in round three.
Now Cobolli looks forward to his first major quarter-final against the seven-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic, who is looking to equal Roger Federer’s men’s record tally of eight.
Flavio Cobolli looks forward to ‘dream’ match against Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon
Flavio Cobolli is one of the rising stars on the ATP Tour.
He has been knocking on the door of the world’s top 20 and is currently 19th in the Live ATP rankings following his Wimbledon run.
Now Cobolli is preparing for the biggest challenge of his career so far when he takes on Djokovic for a spot in the last eight.
He has played against Djokovic on one previous occasion, on the hard courts in Shanghai. Nine months on from that 1-6, 2-6 defeat, Cobolli has progressed exponentially and is ready to face his biggest tennis inspiration on the sport’s grandest stage.
“He [Djokovic] is my biggest idol,” Cobolli said. “So it will be tough for me, for sure, because I will be a little bit nervous, because also it’s my first time on this kind of court. I never played on a big big court here.
“So I think it’s the dream of everyone here to play against him in the quarter final. So I want to enjoy the match, I want to enjoy everything about the match. I want to enjoy every point. Yeah, I think I’m ready to play with him.”
Flavio Cobolli says he enjoys grass court tennis after reaching the Wimbledon quarter-finals
Cobolli has dropped just one set on the way to reaching the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the first time.
This result comes after he reached the last eight at the Halle Open prior to arriving at the All-England Club.
Cobolli has played just 19 matches on grass so far, but he thoroughly enjoys the surface and is working hard to have success.
“I like to play on this kind of stage, this kind of tournament. I really love to play here in Wimbledon. I love to play on grass,” Cobolli said.
“I think it is true because I really love to play against a big player, against a legend of our sport. It is something that I have dreamt of since I was young, since I started to play tennis.
“Everyone in my family, on my team, told me every day that I was born to play matches like this because they saw me really cold, electric on the court. They always told me that I live for this kind of match.”
