Flavio Cobolli is into his first-ever Grand Slam quarter-final, having beaten Marin Cilic earlier today at Wimbledon.
The youngster initially seemed poised to cruise past the Croatian, jumping into a two-set lead.
However, a former finalist at this event, and wildly experienced, Cilic was not going to go down without a fight.
He snagged the third on a tiebreak, but could not repeat that feat in the fourth, where Cobolli secured the win.
He then spoke emotionally afterwards, but reserved time to joke with the Wimbledon crowd.
Flavio Cobolli reacts to reaching his first-ever Wimbledon quarter-final
In his on-court interview, the Italian started in joking fashion, telling the crowd: ‘Guys, I mean this last set, what is it? This silence. [laughs]’
Attention then turned to his performance and the personal history made with today’s win.
Cobolli continued: ’I always dreamed of being here, to play this tournament. You cannot imagine my emotion right now, because I always started to play tennis because of this kind of match, this kind of tournament and now I’m very proud of myself. I’m very proud of my team.
‘I have all my family here, so it’s very special. My dad is crying right now, my brother. My brother also, and I have also my big friends here, so it is a moment that I cannot forget, and I’m very, very happy, and I’m looking forward to the quarter-finals.
‘I hope to play on a big, big court this time because I never played there, and I think now I deserve it. So now… now for sure it’s time to rest, because this match was unbelievable.
‘Marin is a big player, he’s a legend of our sport. It’s a pleasure to share the court with him but now, I’m a little bit tired and I have to recover for the next round.’
Cilic knocked Jack Draper out of Wimbledon, and has rolled back the years with his run at the All-England Club over the last week.
Is Flavio Cobolli a Wimbledon dark horse?
Ahead of Wimbledon, it felt like nobody was really talking about Cobolli.
After all, the 23-year-old had won just two matches on grass in the lead-up to this Grand Slam, having suffered a first-round exit at Eastbourne.
And yet, he was still the 22nd seed, yet went unmentioned when discussing dark horses within the draw.
Players like Alexander Bublik and Jiri Lehecka were touted, but this young superstar has way surpassed both of them, and will now face the winner of Novak Djokovic’s match with Alex De Minaur.
Having dropped just a single set all tournament, Cobolli could easily continue his magical form and trouble whoever is put in front of him.
