During the 2026 Cincinnati Open at Lindner Family Tennis Center on Aug. 17, 2026 in Cincinnati, OH. (Photo by Jeff Dean/Wick Photography for Cincinnati Open)
By Grant Thompson
When Flavio Cobolli served as the honorary sword puller at an FC Cincinnati soccer game this week, who knew it would foreshadow the Italian’s heroic effort on Monday.
“I’m a warrior,” Cobolli said in a TV interview following his dramatic two-hour, 29-minute victory (7-5, 4-6, 7-5) over Alexander Blockx — who was unable to serve out the match in the decider.
It has been that kind of a thrilling year for the 24-year-old, coached by his father, Stefano. Cobolli’s career highlight came on the terre battue of Roland Garros, where he reached his maiden Slam final, only falling in five sets to first-time major champion Alexander Zverev.
“I did something that I never expected in my life,” Cobolli said, speaking to the media at the Cincinnati Open. “The people start watching you and talk a bit more and the pressure is higher, so you have to take this kind of thing and try to live with that and try to not think about it.”
Cobolli’s fourth-place standing in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin — which tracks points earned this calendar year, with the top eight qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals — underlines just how successful he has been this season. Only behind superstars Jannik Sinner, Alexander Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz in the Race to Turin, the three-time ATP Tour titlist is aiming to make his debut at the season finale, held on home soil.
“Now I feel the pressure, I think more than at the beginning of the year,” Cobolli said. “It’s not always easy to play because I’m thinking about the [Nitto ATP Finals], which has been a goal since the beginning of the year and now I see that it’s not so far. So every time that I play, I’m trying not to think about it, but it’s almost impossible.”
Speaking on a day when his father was across I-71 riding roller coasters at Kings Island, Cobolli was open about the added spotlight since reaching the Paris final. He is changing his perspective on how he views that attention.
“Pressure is high and I have to find a way to leave the pressure and make the pressure a friend of mine. That’s what I’m trying to do. I have to beat the pressure before I beat the opponent,” said Cobolli, a quarter-finalist at Wimbledon who won the ATP 500 hard-court event in Acapulco earlier this year.
“I’m not afraid of the pressure, but it’s not usual for me to have it, because now in Italy we have a lot of players.”
One of four Italians inside the Top 20 — alongside Sinner (No. 1), Lorenzo Musetti (No. 15) and Luciano Darderi (No. 20) — Cobolli is part of a standout group leading the three-time defending Davis Cup champions. With Sinner absent since winning Wimbledon (knee injury) and Musetti playing just his 10th event of the season (thigh injury), Cobolli is increasingly carrying a larger share of the Italian torch.
“Jannik took all the pressure before. Lorenzo [Musetti] also took all my pressure,” said the World No. 10, who was slated to play another Italian, Matteo Arnaldi, in the Roland Garros semi-finals before his countryman withdrew due to sickness. “I always played freely and now it’s not easy, because Jannik is not here.”
To relieve some of that pressure, Cobolli enjoys an escape from the sport in which he has earned nearly $10 million in career prize money. After his first-round match in Cincinnati, the Florence native went golfing. He only started playing “some months ago”, adding: “I’m improving. For us tennis players it’s easy to start to play golf.”
The seventh seed arrived in Ohio off the heels of two consecutive defeats he labeled “two of the worst matches in my career” (l. Burruchaga in Umag & Hanfmann in Montreal). Coincidence or not, Cobolli has since shaved his head, now sporting a buzzcut. He was spotted with cornrows just days after his Umag loss.
Despite those setbacks, and beyond any recent pressure, one thing remains true for Cobolli: “I always play with a great smile and I love to play tennis, so I enjoy it a lot — the journey here on tour.”
