The French Open and Wimbledon prepared me for the US Open: Flavio Cobolli

Flavio Cobolli arrives at the US Open with a new level of confidence after enjoying the best Grand Slam season of his career in 2026. The Italian reached his first Grand Slam final at Roland-Garros in June before backing it up with another quarter-final appearance at Wimbledon.

Cobolli’s breakthrough in Paris was particularly impressive. The 10th seed defeated fellow Italian Andrea Pellegrino, Yibing Wu, 18th seed Learner Tien and American Zachary Svajda to reach the quarterfinals. He then came from a set down to beat fourth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to book a place in the last four.

Matteo Arnaldi was scheduled to face Cobolli in the All-Italian semi-finals, but withdrew due to illness, sending Cobolli to his first Grand Slam final. Alexander Zverev eventually defeated him 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-1 in a four-hour, 16-minute battle.

“I think the first time I went that deep in a week in a Grand Slam, it’s something different for me. I learned that you have to maintain a lot of energy because the week is very long and you don’t have time to recover. You have to be back on the court with the same energy as in the previous match,” Cobolli said in an interview exclusively shared with IndiaToday.in JioStar.

FROM PARIS BREAKTHROUGH TO WIMBLEDON CONSISTENCY

Flavio Cobolli reached the French Open final in June. Courtesy: Reuters

Cobolli carried that momentum into Wimbledon, where he reached the quarterfinals for the second year in a row. The ninth seed started with a win over Marian Navon before beating James Duckworth to set up a comeback victory over 19th seed Karen Khachanov.

He then beat fifth seed Alex de Minaur 7-5, 7-6(4), 6-3 in the fourth round to reach the last eight. His run ended against British wildcard Artur Fery, who beat him 6-4, 7-6(4), 6-0.

Still, the Wimbledon campaign reinforced the progress Cobolli had made. After reaching the quarter-finals in London in 2025, he went one step further in 2026 when he combined that consistency with a first Grand Slam final in Paris.

“So I think I learned a lot from these two Grand Slams that I did, Wimbledon and the French Open. I came here and I think I’m ready to fight again and ready to go as deep as I can because I think I have the tennis and the quality to go deep this week as well,” Cobolli said.

“So I put what I learned in those few weeks back into New York very well.

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ANOTHER COBOLLI COMES TO NEW YORK

Flavio Cobolli advanced to the Wimbledon quarterfinals. Courtesy: Reuters

Cobolli also gained valuable experience at Arthur Ashe Stadium through the US Open mixed doubles, where he partnered with Belinda Bencic.

The Italo-Swiss pair had an impressive run, defeating Serena Williams and Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals before defeating Elina Svitolina and Gael Monfils in the semi-finals. Cobolli and Bencic ended up in second place after losing to Karolína Muchová and Jakub Menšík in the final.

The experience gave Cobolli more time on the biggest court at Flushing Meadows and allowed him to share a Grand Slam campaign with Bencic, whom he considers a close friend.

“Yeah, I’ve already played a lot of matches in the Ashes this week and I played mixed doubles. It’s a great event for me, something else that we really need, that we really needed. I also played with a great friend like Belinda, so we played for a Grand Slam title before the Grand Slam,” he said.

“It’s very nice. I also told the tournament director that I love playing mixed doubles, so we have to keep it and play again next year,” added Cobolli.

The focus now shifts entirely to the singles draw. Paris taught Cobolli how to navigate the latter stages of a Grand Slam, while Wimbledon showed his run in France was not an isolated one.

With that experience behind him and another memorable week already under his belt in New York, Cobolli believes he has the game — and now the know-how — to make another deep run at the US Open.

– The end

Issued by:

sabyasachi chowdhury

Published on:

02 Sep 2026 08:00 IST