"It's a moment I won't forget," Flavio rejoices after the match. He is the eighth Italian to pass the round of 16 in London
His arms wide as a sign of joy, a liberating gesture, the orange racket in his right hand, the choir “Flavio Flavio” that accompanies his undertaking. Cobolli is in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon, the 8th Italian in history to get there in what was already his best result ever in a slam and which with this new feat is becoming magical. He deserved it, this triumph, in the 6-4 6-4 6-7 (4) 7-6 (3) of head, heart and talent with which Marin Cilic bowed in 3 hours and 25’. “It's a moment I won't forget” Cobolli said on Court 2 after saying he deserved Central or Court 1 for his next match: he will face monument Novak Djokovic, who beat Alex De Minaur in four sets.
THE KEYS— In addition to the tattoos that pay homage to his football passion for Roma, Cobolli also immortalized the words Patience and Courage on his arms, written in the Chinese alphabet. That's exactly what he needed against Cilic, someone who is part of that generation of legends who doesn't want to give up. He eliminated Jack Draper in this Wimbledon, after losing the first two sets he seemed to be able to play a trick on Cobolli too. Instead Flavio held on patiently and had the courage to dare. And the strength to recover, not only from the third set lost but from the break given up first in the fourth. “It was an incredible match - said the Italian -. I tried to play my way, because I think it's the key to beating the best players in the world and the most experienced ones.I tried to be aggressive at every point and I think I played very well”. Enough to control Cilic in the first two sets, enough to recover from having lost the third, enough to be in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon, to continue in his march towards definitive consecration.
THE MATCH— Cilic is powerful with service, but allows opportunities that Cobolli takes advantage of. Like the one for the break in the fifth game, the precursor to the 6-4 of the first set after 36’. A similar script also in the second, with the difference that in the second game the Italian must cancel the first break ball allowed in his match to keep serve. In the 7th game Cobolli snatched the break, and then closed at 6-4 with his turn to serve. On the sixth game, the Italian emerged unscathed from Cilic's prolonged assault and to earn the tie-break he had to save three set points: on the decisive game, however, he conceded the first set of his tournament with a double fault. The Croatian hurts when he takes the break to make it 4-3 in the fourth set, but Cobolli is very good at getting his serve back immediately. We need another tie break to decide the set: Flavio loses the first two points,then with patience and courage he gets back on track, doesn't make any more mistakes and takes the match. And the Wimbledon quarterfinals.
Bove and the clan— After the match, Cobolli talked about the importance of having loved ones next to you. Including Edoardo Bove, the midfielder who suffered a cardiac arrest on the pitch months ago with the Fiorentina shirt: "Edoardo has been telling me since the first day that I would arrive on Monday and that he would come. I was lucky enough to have him next to me today, he will also be with me for the next match. Today we celebrate the victory all together, with him and the rest of the group. I am used to having a large group, many people who support me and stay with me in this type of tournament. We all stay at home together, we have fun, for me having them here is a fantastic feeling. I'm calm on the pitch, I have fun, I perform better on the pitch: I'm very happy to have them. My brother has always been with me, he is special.Today he got a little’ caught up in emotions but I think it's normal: it's something that struck him, that affected all of us. I'm happy to have them with me.