Italy’s Flavio Cobolli has made history at Wimbledon by reaching his first-ever Grand Slam quarter-final, defeating former US Open champion Marin Cilic in a tense four-set battle on Court 2.
Cobolli, the 22nd seed, produced a composed and confident performance to win 6-4, 6-4, 6-7(4), 7-6(3) in a match that lasted three hours and 25 minutes. The 23-year-old Roman becomes the first Italian man to book a place in the final eight at this year’s Championships.
The match began evenly, with both players holding serve early in the first set. But Cobolli seized control with a timely break in the fifth game, capitalising on a strong return game to go 3-2 up. He maintained an impressive 85% success rate on first serve, giving away very little and wrapping up the opener in 36 minutes. Cilic, meanwhile, struggled with 17 unforced errors in the set.
The second set followed a similar script, though Cobolli faced more resistance. The Croatian, known for his powerful serve, began to take more time between points, something that appeared to frustrate the Italian. Still, Cobolli remained composed and sealed the second set 6-4, aided by three aces in the crucial final game.
The third set proved more complicated. Cobolli began to show signs of fatigue, while Cilic raised his level, dominating his service games and pushing the set to 6-5 with three set points in hand. Cobolli saved them all with brave play, levelling at 6-6 before losing the subsequent tiebreak 7-4, his first dropped set of the tournament.
In the fourth set, Cobolli briefly surrendered a break at 4-3, only to break back immediately and level the match. Despite a slight ankle twist in the next game, the Italian held serve to love with an ace and narrowly missed closing out the match at 6-5, as Cilic responded with two clutch service winners.
The decisive tiebreak saw both players exchange early mini-breaks. But it was Cobolli who kept his nerve as the 37-year-old Cilic faltered with two unforced errors. A powerful ace gave Cobolli a 6-3 lead, and on match point, a netted return from Cilic sealed the result.
Cobolli collapsed to his knees in joy and disbelief, having secured the biggest win of his career and a place in the final eight at SW19. He will now face the winner of the match between Novak Djokovic (6) and Alex de Minaur (11) in what promises to be a major test.
This run marks a significant milestone for Italian tennis, with Cobolli becoming one of the breakout stars of this year’s Wimbledon.
