Laver Cup alternate Flavio Cobolli enjoyed a hassle-free ride to the title thanks to some third day Carlos Alcaraz heroics.
Despite Cobolli’s Laver Cup experience mostly made up of extended fist-pumps, long stints sitting down, and good faith efforts to try and calm down Daniil Medvedev, the young Italian likely won’t be condemned to the benches next time round.
To be frank, he probably didn’t mind too much – Rubbing shoulders with the ATP’s top dogs and working out if he has any shared cultural references with Grigor Dimitrov? Sounds like a decent week to me – perhaps he’s even been allowed to keep the tracksuit.
Cobolli has certainly earned his right to be there mind you. A break-out year in 2024 has seen the Italian fly up the rankings and notch up 31 of his 37 ATP career wins.
At 22, the Italian exudes on-court swagger and has managed to find wins over North American trio Tommy Paul, Ben Shelton, and Felix Auger-Aliassime, all within the last two months.
Flavio Cobolli reveals what he learnt during the Laver Cup
Just eight months after he entered the top 100 of the ATP Rankings for the first time, Cobolli travelled to Berlin to spend a week under Bjorn Borg’s watchful eye, raring to compete if an injury cropped up among the core six.
Having been spotted chatting to Carlos Alcaraz during his win over Shelton, the Italian spoke to the ATP about his takeaway lesson from the week.
“I learned a lot from the guys. They are amazing,” Cobolli said in Berlin. “I didn’t know anyone here [except Alcaraz], but since the first day I came here they treated me well. They helped me a lot. They gave me some tips for the future, for the rest of the season. They are really nice and I enjoyed this week.
“I knew Carlos well,” Cobolli confirmed, after the pair spent time at the Ferrero Academy in Villena earlier this year. “We are the same age, and we know each other really well. We have a nice relationship.”
He added: “I prefer to talk about other things than tennis with him, but I asked [Grigor] Dimitrov a lot of things, and Zverev. Guys that have a little bit more experience. Of course, Carlos is already a legend of our sport, but we prefer to talk about football or other things for now!”
The oldest in the Team Europe squad, Dimitrov’s late arrival after Rafael Nadal’s Laver Cup withdrawal worked out perfectly, with the Bulgarian a steady pair of hands throughout, winning his only singles match.
An endless conveyor-belt of Italian tennis stars
Someone, somewhere, in a remote part of Italy, is carefully releasing another tennis star every few months.
With last year’s Davis Cup victory, led by Jannik Sinner, Italian tennis has only gone from strength to strength.
The first Italian number one has picked up his first two Grand Slams this year, bookending the year with total hard-court domination.
Jasmine Paolini, Sara Errani, and Lorenzo Musetti all enjoyed glittering Olympic outings, with the latter scooping up bronze in the singles while the two crafty WTA stars picked up doubles gold.
Cobolli’s 2024 charge is simply the latest new addition to an ever-expanding Italian roster of superstars.
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