London, July 6 (IANS) Flavio Cobolli continued his meteoric rise by reaching the quarterfinals at Wimbledon for the second straight year, overcoming Alex de Minaur in a fourth-round match at the All-England Club on Monday.

In the first men’s singles meeting between two Top-10 players at this year’s Championships, Cobolli produced a composed display to beat de Minaur 7-5, 7-6(4), 6-3 in two hours and 34 minutes. With this, the 24-year-old became just the third Italian man, after Nicola Pietrangeli and Jannik Sinner, to reach multiple Wimbledon quarterfinals.

Cobolli first won the hearts of the Wimbledon faithful last summer when he reached the quarterfinals by beating Marin Cilic. He backed that up by taking a set from Novak Djokovic two days later.

Cobolli, who reached his first major final at Roland Garros last month, is continuing his rise with another deep run at Wimbledon. The World No. 10 will next face former World No. 3 Grigor Dimitrov or the last remaining Briton, Arthur Fery, for a place in the semifinals in southwest London.

Under the blazing London sun, Cobolli kept his cool. Despite De Minaur holding a break advantage in both the second and third sets, the Italian repeatedly wrestled back control of the longer exchanges, using his weight of shot, sharp angles, and fearless ballstriking to wear down the resilient Australian.

Cobolli was happy to have his day’s work wrapped up in three sets as he wanted to watch a FIFA World Cup match later in the evening.

“There is the World Cup, and I want to see Spain and Portugal,” he said. “I hope that I can go early to the house, but first we have to find one. Because actually, we don’t have a house,” he added as quite a few spectators murmured that they had houses in the vicinity of the All-England Club.

Cobolli was satisfied with his quick work, saying he was feeling tired in the third set.

“I was feeling tired in the third set, so I am very happy to reach the quarterfinal in three sets,” he said, “because it’s very important to stay with the energy for the next round. This year, it’s been so hot. I am so happy; I’m really proud of myself.”

Cobolli has now compiled a 27-14 tour-level record in 2026, capping a remarkable turnaround after a difficult start to the year. The Italian arrived at the Australian Open as World No. 20 but suffered a shock first-round defeat to then-World No. 186 Fery.

Bouncing back, Cobolli reached the semifinals in Delray Beach before lifting his third ATP Tour title in Acapulco to kick-start his climb. During the European clay swing, Cobolli then advanced to the final in Munich and the quarterfinals in Madrid, but it all came together at Roland Garros, where he surged to his first major final before falling to Alexander Zverev.

–IANS

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