Marion Bartoli makes confident prediction about Flavio Cobolli after seeing him play Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon

Follow us on Google Discover

Flavio Cobolli faced the unenviable task of playing Novak Djokovic on Wimbledon’s Centre Court.

The young Italian had been mightily impressive en route to the quarterfinals, defeating Beibit Zhukayev, Jack Pinnington Jones, Jakub Mensik, and Marin Cilic, dropping just one set along the way.

Contesting his first career Grand Slam quarterfinal, Cobolli took on seven-time champion Djokovic on Wednesday.

To the surprise of many, Cobolli snatched the first set in a tiebreaker 7-6 [8-6] as he moved himself one step closer to the semifinals.

It wasn’t to be, however, as Djokovic came through to win in four sets, beating Cobolli 6-7, 6-2, 7-5, 6-4.

In the immediate aftermath of Cobolli’s valiant defeat, former Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli made a bold prediction about what he may achieve in the future.

Marion Bartoli says Flavio Cobolli will challenge the ‘top players for years to come’

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live after the match, Bartoli shared her thoughts on the young Italian.

“I mean obviously the way he has been playing today, it was not Novak [Djokovic] playing badly, it was [Flavio] Cobolli playing lights out, outstanding tennis,” she said.

“I was very pleasantly surprised to see him being able to achieve that level on the Centre Court of Wimbledon, in the quarterfinal of a Grand Slam, against his idol.”

The Frenchwoman proceeded to suggest what she expects the world number 24 to achieve in the coming years.

“I think it shows how mentally he’s ready for that, and I think that will give him such a platform to reproduce that kind of level against the other top players,” said Bartoli.

“Very much so on the hard court, the clay court, the grass, he can play on any surface. Flavio Cobolli is going to be a top 20 player when the new rankings come out; he will absolutely be able to challenge the top players in the years to come.”

Reaching the Wimbledon quarterfinals, Cobolli secured himself a place in the top 20 as he is set to debut at 19th on Monday.

Only time will tell if Cobolli can push on to become a top ten player and start picking up wins over the likes of Djokovic, Jannik Sinner, and Carlos Alcaraz, but it will certainly be something to look out for.

Marion Bartoli reacts to Novak Djokovic’s injury scare against Flavio Cobolli

One point away from victory, it looked as though disaster had struck for Djokovic when he fell awkwardly on match point.

Made of sterner stuff, Djokovic recovered to wrap up the match just two points later, much to the amazement of Bartoli.

“This man is just extraordinary. This man is just made of something else. I have nothing else to say,” she said.

“Falling the way he just fell two points ago. Cobolli playing lights out tennis for three hours, 11 minutes, gets himself back together, serves two first serves back-to-back, and finishes it off as if nothing happened.

“Got a standing ovation from the whole stadium, and he’s absolutely deserving of that appreciation.”

The 40-year-old was pleased to see the big names make it through to the last four, as she revealed her two wishes for the semifinals.

“When we saw the draw, we all dreamt about these semifinals. We all dreamt to have Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic in the semifinal and somebody else, and we have Taylor Fritz,” said Bartoli.

“We have our dream semifinal, we just hope Sinner’s arm will be fine, that Novak Djokovic’s leg will be fine, because we just want to see those top players play their best tennis.”

Sinner will return to play Djokovic in the semifinals of Wimbledon on Friday, July 11.