ATP Tour

Cobolli’s Turin mission: A dream within reach

For the past two years, Jannik Sinner has been the man to beat in Turin. The Italian lifted the Nitto ATP Finals trophy in both 2024 and 2025 without losing a match and has suffered just one defeat at the Inalpi Arena since 2023, when record seven-time champion Novak Djokovic beat him in the title match that year.

Sinner will miss this year’s event through injury, opening the door for another Italian to take centre stage. Could Flavio Cobolli be the next home star to rise to the occasion? The 24-year-old is enjoying a career-best season and sits fifth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin with just three weeks of the season remaining.

“It is a dream for me,” Cobolli said on competing in Turin. “It is like a Grand Slam, I didn’t think about Turin before but now I am well placed in the Race and I am one of the potential players in Turin and we have [a few] more tournaments and I have to play as many matches as possible to reach this goal. I don’t want to think about the goal but I do want to think about how fun it would be to play there. It would be very special to play there.”

That position might have seemed a long way off earlier in the year. After a first-round exit at the Australian Open against then-World No. 186 Arthur Fery, Cobolli also fell in the opening round in Dallas to then-World No. 181 Jack Pinnington-Jones. But the Italian has shown before that a difficult start need not define his season. In 2025, he lost eight of his first 10 tour-level matches before turning things around with a title in Bucharest. This year, Cobolli once again found a way to build momentum.

The dynamic Italian soared to his second ATP 500 crown in the humid conditions of Acapulco and then reached the final in Munich and the quarters at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Madrid. In Roland Garros in June, Cobolli raised the roof further, coming through a field which had opened up to reach his maiden major final.

“I think I rate my season really well,” Cobolli told ATPTour.com. “I did a great year to this point. I have many goals I want to achieve this year, like Turin. I didn’t start well, like last year, but I think the middle of the season with clay and grass was amazing for me, so I am really happy.

“Roland Garros was special. I didn’t imagine I would reach the final of that Grand Slam. But when you are there you are trying your best to win the title. I tried but I played against an amazing player, who deserved it more than me at that point. I was happy at the end of the match. Now when I see the match again, it is very painful but still something nothing I will ever forget. I was lucky to play that match.”

Cobolli's progress continued on grass, where he reached his second consecutive Wimbledon quarter-final, before advancing to the semi-finals at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati. Across different surfaces and stages of the season, Cobolli has shown he can compete deep into major tournaments. The question now is what has changed and whether he can sustain that level through the final stretch of the year.

“The work outside the court is important,” Cobolli said. “I think I changed a lot of things this year with the team. I was more on court practising and having fun. I started to listen a bit more to my team during practice and I think that has worked. I am lucky I have these kinds of people behind me. They really love me and want to stay with me and I feel all the love when I am with them. It is very helpful for my game.”

Cobolli can now go all the way to the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time with a strong finish to the year. Italian fans have grown accustomed to cheering on their countrymen in Turin, with Sinner, Matteo Berrettini and Lorenzo Musetti all having competed at the event since it moved to the city in 2021. With none of the three in contention to qualify this year, Cobolli has the chance to carry the home hopes into the season-ending showcase.

He would not be unfamiliar with the pressure of representing Italy. Last year, Cobolli played a key role in helping his country win a third consecutive Davis Cup Finals title, delivering in decisive moments before celebrating by getting a tattoo of the Hulk. That fighting spirit could prove invaluable if he earns his place in Turin, where he would face the world’s leading eight players.

“I always felt the love from the fans,” Cobolli said on playing at home. “We are living a great moment in Italy with tennis. We have Jannik and the other guys. We are very lucky about this. We are lucky to have a big stage in Turin and we love the opportunity to play in front of our fans and family. Last year in Bologna I [felt] emotion I have never [felt] before in my life. It was very special to win the Davis Cup.”

Although he has yet to compete at the Nitto ATP Finals, Cobolli knows what makes the event special. He has attended in previous years, experiencing the atmosphere in Turin from the stands. Now, with qualification within reach, he could have the opportunity to return as one of the players under the spotlight.

“I have been in Turin every year,” Cobolli said. “I have had lunch with the players there. Had sponsors there and felt the emotions. But I want to feel the emotions inside the court, I want to enter that court and feel what those players felt to play there.”

For now, however, there is still work to do. With valuable points available and several players still chasing qualification, Cobolli knows his place in Turin is far from guaranteed. His focus remains on the matches ahead rather than the possibility of a home debut at the season-ending event.