Cobolli fights back to reach back-to-back Wimbledon quarterfinals
Down 2-5 in the second set and a break behind in the third, Flavio Cobolli (No 10) again refused to lose, recovering to beat Alex de Minaur (No 6) 7-5, 7-6 (4), 6-3 and reach back-to-back Wimbledon quarterfinals. It was the Italian’s first win in three meetings with de Minaur, and a 27th victory in a breakout 2026 season.
Flavio Cobolli, Wimbledon 2026 | © Action Plu / PsNewz
Flavio Cobolli reached back-to-back Wimbledon quarterfinals on Monday, beating Australian sixth seed Alex de Minaur 7-5, 7-6 (4), 6-3 in the fourth round. It was the world No. 10’s first win over de Minaur in three meetings, and, like much of his fortnight, it came the hard way.
The victory handed Cobolli a third career Grand Slam quarterfinal, a fourth top-10 win of 2026 and a 27th match victory of a breakout season.
Cobolli trailed 2-5 in the second set and slipped a break down in the third, yet the final score betrayed none of it. He hauled the second set back to force a tiebreak and took it, then regrouped from behind in the decider to break de Minaur’s serve three times and pull away.
The slow start has become his signature. Cobolli dropped the opening set in each of his previous three matches – a 0-6 bagel against Russian 19th seed Karen Khachanov, whom he still beat 0-6, 7-6 (4), 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-2, and a 1-6 opener against Argentine Mariano Navone before edging through 1-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3, 7-6 (8) – and survived each time, as he also did past Australian James Duckworth.
De Minaur, ranked No. 6, had reached the second week for the loss of just one set, to American Zachary Svajda, before straight-sets wins over Frenchman Adrian Mannarino and Argentine Roman Andres Burruchaga. He could not hold off an opponent who has made turning matches around a habit.
Cobolli : “We don’t have a house”
Asked about the moment he and de Minaur sat together in the shade during a break, in a match played in fierce heat and stopped twice, Cobolli spoke of mutual respect. “It’s a lot of respect. I love him, like a guy. I love how he plays, I don’t love to play against him,” he said. “Out of respect we had a little chat on the break. He told me I had to expect another thing like what happened there, because it’s really hot. We were lucky to finish with only two stoppages.”
He will next play the winner of Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov and Englishman Arthur Fery, who meet later for the last quarterfinal place in that section of the draw. Asked whether he would watch the match, Cobolli was blunt. “No, no, no. I don’t. For sure, like every day, ice cream and…” Nudged about the running joke over his “whipped pasta,” he laughed it off. “I think today my dad cooks pasta with tomato and onion. Or maybe we eat here. There’s the World Cup, I want to see Spain against Portugal. I hope I can go home early, but first we have to find one – because actually, we don’t have a house.”
Wimbledon 2026, men’s singles fourth round
J. Sinner [1] d. S. Mochizuki (Q): 6-3, 7-6(0), 6-3
J. Struff d. H. Hurkacz: 3-6, 6-7(5), 7-6(2), 7-5, 4-2 Ret.
F. Auger-Aliassime [3] d. A. Davidovich Fokina [22]: 6-7(4), 7-6(6), 6-3, 6-7(2), 6-1
N. Djokovic [7] d. R. Safiullin (Q): 7-6(6), 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
F. Cobolli [9] d. A. De Minaur [5]: 7-5, 7-6(4), 6-3
G. Dimitrov (W) vs A. Fery (W) – Monday
T. Fritz [6] vs A. Bublik [10] – Monday
A. Zverev [2] vs J. Lehecka [13] – Monday
