LONDON (AP) 鈥� On his first match point, stepped up and unleashed a 135 mph first serve down the T that landed on the line and sent a puff of chalk into the air on No. 1 Court at .
Fifth-seeded opponent Alex de Minaur could barely touch the serve and the Australian鈥檚 weak return didn鈥檛 even go past his own service line.
Cobolli reacted by leaping into the air and pumping his fist. He launched a ball into the crowd before moving forward to shake hands with De Minaur.
Then the Italian moved on to the performance he鈥檇 been waiting for.
Cobolli put his racket down and went back out into the center of the court and launched himself into the most iconic celebration in soccer: twirling in mid-air like , he then landed on the grass with his feet planted wide and jerked his arms down by his side.
The mostly English crowd knew just what was going on and shouted 鈥淪iuuu鈥� along with Cobolli.
鈥淚 love his celebration. I love him,鈥� said Cobolli, who was once a promising soccer player himself in Roma鈥檚 youth system. 鈥淚 will cheer for Portugal (against Spain at the ) tonight because of Ronaldo.鈥�
In his previous match, Cobolli performed a surfing celebration borrowed from Brazil striker Matheus Cunha.
Antonelli and Sinner
While , the country has no lack of sports stars and a few of them were in the spotlight at the grass-court Grand Slam on Monday.
Cobolli鈥檚 7-5, 7-6 (4), 6-3 victory over a fellow top-10 player to reach the quarterfinals was a statement win as he attempts to back up his run to the French Open final.
At the same time over on Centre Court, Jasmine Paolini ended the run of rising Filipino player Alexandra Eala with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 victory to return to the last eight at a Grand Slam for the first time since back-to-back runs to the Roland Garros and Wimbledon finals two years ago.
Watching Paolini from the Royal Box was Kimi Antonelli, the 19-year-old Italian driver who leads the Formula One standings for Mercedes.
鈥淚 met Kimi afterward,鈥� Paolini said. 鈥淚鈥檝e been following him a lot lately. I鈥檓 becoming an F1 fan. He seems like a real nice kid and very down to earth.鈥�
Coinciding with Italy鈥檚 troubles in soccer, Antonelli and 鈥� who plays Jan-Lennard Struff on Tuesday for a spot in the semifinals 鈥� have become the country鈥檚 most popular athletes.
Cobolli, too, is rapidly gaining attention after his run to the Paris final, where he pushed Alexander Zverev to five sets.
De Minaur led 5-2 in the second set and was up a break twice in the third. But Cobolli wouldn鈥檛 be deterred.
鈥淎lex is a stratospheric player. So beating him three sets to none makes me feel like I鈥檓 ready,鈥� Cobolli said when asked if he鈥檚 ready for another deep run. 鈥淭his gave me a lot of answers, and I think it provided a lot of answers to my opponents, too.鈥�
World Cup and gelato
After the victory over De Minaur, Cobolli鈥檚 grandfather had to go and find a new house for their team in the Wimbledon village since they had only reserved through the first week.
Now they can maintain Flavio鈥檚 nightly routine during the fortnight: dinner cooked by his father and coach, Stefano, and shared with his best friend, , before watching a World Cup match and downing a tub of gelato (pear and white chocolate is Cobolli’s flavor for the tournament).
鈥淎n Italian family give us all the house here in Wimbledon,鈥� Cobolli said. 鈥淪o it鈥檚 really cool.鈥�
Cobolli鈥檚 quarterfinal opponent will be Arthur Fery 鈥� the 23-year-old British player who grew up just .
Paolini doesn’t let Federer distract her
Besides the challenge presented by the 21-year-old Eala, who eliminated defending champion Iga Swiatek in the previous round, the 5-foot-4 Paolini also had to try and not to let the presence of distract her.
At one point, Antonelli sat right next to Federer, the owner of a men鈥檚 record eight Wimbledon singles titles.
鈥淗e is my idol,鈥� the 30-year-old Paolini said of Federer in an on-court interview. 鈥淚 was like during the match, 鈥楶lease stay focused, stay focused. Don鈥檛 think about he鈥檚 here.鈥� I was watching all the finals and all the tournaments he was playing here.鈥�
Paolini鈥檚 next opponent will be Marta Kostyuk, the Ukrainian player who reached her first Wimbledon quarterfinal by beating American qualifier Ashlyn Krueger 6-4, 6-4.
It was the so far, as the temperature rose to 32 degrees Celsius (90 Fahrenheit), prompting players to place bags of ice around their necks on changeovers.
Another women鈥檚 quarterfinal will feature Linda Noskova against Elise Mertens.
The strong performance by Italian players follows similar results at the French Open, where despite Sinner鈥檚 second-round meltdown in a Paris heat wave.
___
AP Sports Writer Ken Maguire contributed to this report.
___
AP tennis:
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
