ATP Tour

Cobolli at Wimbledon: Winning matches, finding houses

Flavio Cobolli just can't catch a break when it comes to finding a place to stay at Wimbledon.

A year after being forced to change apartments in the middle of his breakthrough run to the quarter-finals at The All England Club, the Italian has once again found himself dealing with accommodation headaches during the second week.

The good news? Just after he booked a return to the last eight on Monday with a four-set victory over Alex de Minaur, Cobolli and his team finally found somewhere to settle.

“Last year I had problems. This year I have problems. I hope that my dad finds the right solution for next [year],” Cobolli said in his post-match press conference.

Cobolli arrived in London in the midst of the best season of his career. The 24-year-old reached his first major final at Roland Garros last month, where he ultimately fell to Alexander Zverev, and is competing at a career-high No. 10 in the PIF ATP Rankings.

Given his form, Cobolli and his father and coach, Stefano Cobolli, might have expected another deep Wimbledon run. Finding the right place to stay, however, proved anything but straightforward. Fortunately, Cobolli's grandfather stepped in to help solve the problem before the Italian prepares for Wednesday's quarter-final against British wild card Arthur Fery.

“My grandfather helped us find a solution for tonight,” Cobolli said. “But we found a solution for the week, I hope. An Italian family gave us all the house here in Wimbledon, so it's really cool. I will say thanks to them when I see them.”

With his off-court concerns seemingly behind him, Cobolli can turn his full attention to Fery, who leads their Lexus ATP Head2Head series 1-0 after a straight-sets win at the Australian Open in January. Cobolli was battling illness during that defeat, and his fortunes have transformed since.

The Italian claimed his third ATP Tour title in Acapulco in March, carried that momentum all the way to his surging run at Roland Garros, and has now matched his best Wimbledon result by reaching the quarter-finals for a second consecutive year.

"Everyone talks about the season, where I have to improve, something like that," Cobolli said. "It wasn't easy to find the right way to play really calm and just play tennis. At the end, I wait for a good result that maybe changes something. It did it.

"In Acapulco I was really happy with my level. I found a way to hang on to that feeling. From there, I think I played good tennis for all the weeks. Sometimes I'm tired. Sometimes maybe I play a lot. So now I have to find the best solution for me to always play at 100 per cent."