Flavio Cobolli spent a lot of time with Carlos Alcaraz coming into the 2026 season.
Cobolli trained with Alcaraz in Murcia in December, as they prepared for the tennis season ahead.
It appeared to work for Alcaraz, who won the Australian Open title at his first tournament of the year, while Cobolli struggled down under.
However, after Cobolli won the Mexican Open, he has revealed exactly what it was like to train with the world number one.
Flavio Cobolli reveals what he gained from training with Carlos Alcaraz
In an interview with La Gazetta dello Sport, Cobolli revealed how challenging, while fun, training with Alcaraz was, explaining that he gained strength from it.
“He gave me a lot of strength,” said Cobolli. “And when I had to pay the price for losing, I carried it on my shoulders: two or three extra strength sessions, let’s call them that.
“…Training with Carlos is always a lot of fun, but it’s hard work. Plus, at the beginning of December I was coming off the Davis Cup, with those marathon matches that sapped me of physical and mental energy.”
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Cobolli has only actually played one match on the ATP Tour against Alcaraz, which took place at Roland Garros in 2023.
Alcaraz beat Cobolli 6-0, 6-2, 7-5, in this match and they are yet to play another match since.
Flavio Cobolli explains what playing Jannik Sinner made him realise
While Cobolli has not played Alcaraz over the past year, he has faced world number two Jannik Sinner.
This match was at the Vienna Open, where Sinner beat Cobolli 6-2, 7-6(4), en route to winning the title.
Although he did not win this match, Cobolli revealed that this match made him realise he was a tougher player than he first thought, and proved doubters wrong about his game on hard courts.
“First of all, I realized I’m a tougher player to play against, and then that I can play on any surface,” said Cobolli. “They always told me I could never achieve great results on hard courts.
“In the end, my best matches, before this title, were on indoor hard courts. Even against Jannik, for example, where I played very well in the round of 16 in Vienna, even though I ended up losing.”
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Cobolli won his first hard court title in Acapulco over the weekend, and will look to continue his momentum at Indian Wells.
The 23-year-old is already confirmed to have a better Indian Wells than his two previous appearances, as Cobolli receives a bye to the second round as a seeded player.
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