Flavio Cobolli – football’s loss is tennis’ gain

Like his friend, compatriot, and fellow HEAD ambassador Jannik Sinner, Italy’s Flavio Cobolli had a choice to make when he was young, as he excelled at more than one sport. He was a highly-promising soccer full back in the academy and youth teams of his beloved AS Roma.

And just as Sinner chose tennis after being a junior skiing champion at European level, Cobolli gave up his dreams of playing football for his home club and focused on tennis from the age of 14. Football’s loss was tennis’s gain.

Coached by his father, Stefano, himself a former player once ranked just outside the top 200, Cobolli idolised Novak Djokovic growing up and took his first real steps on the professional tour in 2021. But his biggest advance came in 2025-26, when he soared up the rankings, his big serve and strong groundstrokes providing the foundation for his run to the French Open final, a place in the world’s top 10, and being Italy’s hero in the Davis Cup final.

Rise to the top 10

The Florence-born right-hander reached his first ATP Tour final in Washington in 2024 at the age of 22, and in 2025 he stepped up another couple of levels, winning his first title in Bucharest, and then his second in Hamburg, where another HEAD tennis ambassador, Andrey Rublev, was his victim in the final. In between, he reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon.

Later that year, he showed his all-surface ability by posting two dramatic three-set wins on indoor hard court in Bologna, winning the match that gave Italy a third successive Davis Cup title.

Then in mid-2026 came the performance that announced Cobolli to the world – his run to the final at Roland-Garros, where it took another HEAD ambassador, Alexander Zverev, to stop him in five sets. In a tournament played in extreme heat for the first eight days, Cobolli’s great form kept his early matches short while others played marathons. It took until the fourth round for him to drop a set, and only a lack of experience thwarted him against Zverev.

"I think I can play everywhere with my game. My game is real easy; stay close to the line and play there. I think it is very good for all three surfaces. I think this is the key. For me, the important thing is to have fun on the court and then I can play everywhere. I can play on grass, clay, hard, but in the end, the attitude is the most important for my game."

Flavio Cobolli

A different attitude

Cobolli admits he plays his best tennis when he’s enjoying himself on court. “I’m just playing my tennis, but for sure I have more confidence in myself,” he said at the 2025 US Open. “When I play a match, I go on court with another attitude now.” And at Roland-Garros in 2026, he said:

"I just want to enjoy the tournament. It’s an incredible honour to play on the Philippe-Chatrier Court, it’s a dream come true for me, and I want to keep this dream open."

Flavio Cobolli

Cobolli says his friends would describe him as “funny, and stupid” but it seems that a wise decision taken in 2024 has been a key factor in his rise up the rankings: a focus on eating healthily and living life more professionally, going to his cheat meal of pizza less frequently than in the past. “I have a good team and they helped me to do the best thing,” Cobolli said when asked how crucial the change had been. “They always support me and try to push me to do the best thing to help me on the court. Now I continue to evolve in my great things outside the court.”

The Italian keeps in touch with many of the football players from his time at AS Roma’s academy, like Riccardo Calafiori, Edoardo Bove, Nicola Zalewski, and Matteo Cancellieri, who – like Cobolli – were all born in 2002. And he has a tattoo quoting another soccer player, Daniele De Rossi, the former AS Roma and Italy midfielder.

“Sei tu l’unica mia sposa sei tu l’unico mio amor”, reads the tattoo, which, translated into English, means: “You are my only wife, you are my only love”, reflecting De Rossi’s almost marital attachment to football. “I was a good football player when I was young, so he inspired me a lot,” Cobolli said. “I grew up with his image, so it means a lot.”

‘You have to improve alone’

The other important figure in Cobolli’s life is his father, Stefano. Unlike many parents, who like to be involved from day one, Stefano only took over as coach when his son was 17, recognising the importance of letting go.

"He always told me: ‘You have to improve alone, you have to make your life alone, and then I will help you later’."

Flavio Cobolli

quoting his father and coach, Stefano Cobolli

It certainly seems to be working, with Cobolli breaking into the world’s top 20 in July 2025, and the top 10 less than a year later. And he is confident he belongs. “Now I believe more in myself,” he said. “I think I can stay here.”