"I hope to close the gap behind them": Flavio Cobolli aims to challenge Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz's dominance

Flavio Cobolli had an impressive 2024 season, starting outside the top 100 and reaching a career-high ranking of world No. 32. The 22-year-old Italian is considered one of the country's promising young talents, currently ranked No. 3 in Italy, just behind Jannik Sinner (No. 1, 23 years old) and Lorenzo Musetti (No. 17, 22 years old).

From the start of the season, the young star showed he was ready to carve out a spot among the best. He made it through the Australian Open qualifying rounds and reached the third round, defeating 18th seed Nicolás Jarry, before losing decisively to Alex de Minaur.

Throughout the season, Cobolli posted a 33-25 record (57%), with notable wins over Gaël Monfils, Alexander Bublik, Félix Auger-Aliassime, Ben Shelton, Alejandro Tabilo, and Tommy Paul. He reached the final of the DC Open (losing to Sebastian Korda) and the semifinals of the Geneva Open.

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Cobolli looks to challenge Sinner and Alcaraz in 2025

With a year of experience competing at the top level, Cobolli looks to make a leap forward in the upcoming season. "I never set final goals," he said in an interview with Corriere Dello Sport. "I see 2025 as a new beginning in which I hope to confirm the good things I've done this past year. I don't talk about results, but about the seriousness I put into my work and my desire to grow. On the court, my goal will be to make things difficult for everyone."

The world No. 32 played his last tournament at the Vienna Open in late October, reaching the round of 16 before retiring mid-match against Alex de Minaur with a score of 6-7(2), 1-3, due to shoulder issues. A few days later, he was set to debut at the Paris Masters but had to withdraw from the tournament, ending his season prematurely.

The shoulder complications didn’t heal within the expected timeframe. Cobolli was supposed to join the Juan Carlos Ferrero Academy to train alongside Carlos Alcaraz for the pre-season (as he had done the previous year), but the lingering shoulder pain prevented him from attending and training with the four-time Grand Slam champion.

"The pain didn’t go away, and it took longer than expected, but I’ve recovered and I'm finally happy on the court," explained the Italian. "I’m gradually regaining my tennis and athletic condition, but I’m calm because it’ll be enough for me to play some matches. At the end of 2024, I was playing very well, but now I’ll have to improve some things, especially technically."

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"Last year, the pre-season with Carlos was a turning point for me, it helped me a lot, and I would repeat it every year. Training with him is special, and I’m convinced it will still be very useful for me. I hope Juan Carlos Ferrero calls me again next year. This year, I was sad not to go, but as I told my team, not being able to recover from my shoulder didn’t help me mentally. Staying another week in Rome helped me."

Cobolli shared his thoughts on the dominance of Sinner and Alcaraz in 2024 and believes it will likely continue into 2025. "The two of them are the present and will be the future of this sport. Reaching their level is very difficult for everyone, but I hope to close the gap behind them to challenge them more, something we haven’t managed to do much this year. That said, I always support Jannik and respect Carlos a lot, so I’m really happy when they get good results."

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