Flavio Cobolli and Lorenzo Sonego have turned the 2025 Wimbledon Championships into a bit of a celebration for Italian tennis. The two have booked spots in the second week, making up for the early exits of their fellow Italians Jasmine Paolini and Lorenzo Musetti.
They, however, now face tough opponents. While Sonego will take on 10th seed Ben Shelton in his Last 16 encounter, Cobolli squares off against former finalist Marin Cilic. As both men head into big contests, let’s take a moment to get to know them a little better:
Lorenzo Sonego and Flavio Cobolli are sporting fans
Both Lorenzo Sonego and Flavio Cobolli are big sporting fans and enjoy watching football. While Sonego is an ardent supporter of Torino FC, Cobolli throws his weight behind AS Roma. The latter is also close friends with Roma midfielder Edoardo Bove.
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Besides, Cobolli has termed the former pro Francesco Totti, a central figure in the Italian team as well as Roma for nearly three decades from the 1990s to 2010s, as his favorite athlete.
Lorenzo Sonego, meanwhile, almost picked up the sport, as he trained at Torino’s youth academy until he was 13. He has often listed football as an alternative career option had he not become a professional tennis player.
Both idolize players from the 'Big 3' era
For a big part of their generation, the “Big 3” (Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic) were ideal role models. Unsurprisingly, Sonego and Cobolli have picked them as players whom they looked up to growing up.
Lorenzo Sonego has spoken about idolizing Roger Federer, a player whom he did get a chance to play against not once but twice in his career. While the Italian could never win, both of their meetings came on one of the biggest stages: 2021 Wimbledon and the 2019 French Open.
Cobolli, meanwhile, has spoken about his admiration for Novak Djokovic, who he also got to play in Shanghai last year. The Serb won in straight sets.
Besides, the duo also holds immense respect for players from the era outside of the Big 3. Sonego has listed former Grand Slam finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga as one of his favorites, while Cobolli has been vocal with his respect for former Italian No. 1 Fabio Fognini.
Sonego and Cobolli share a love for lasagna
It is no secret that the Italians love their food. Even a packed stadium Down Under earlier this year could not get Jasmine Paolini to choose Australian coffee over the espresso shots back home.
Lorenzo Sonego and Flavio Cobolli are no different. When asked to pick their favorite, both men went straight to Italian cuisine and had the same answer: lasagna.
Flavio Cobolli's father was a tennis player
Sports, tennis in particular, runs in the veins of Flavio Cobolli as his father, Stefano, also represented Italy on the Tour during the 1990s and early 2000s.
Stefano began playing professionally in 1995 and achieved a career-high singles ranking of No. 236. He played the qualification rounds at all Grand Slams but the US Open. While he could never make it to the main draw, he did post a Tour-level win at the 1998 Croatia Open after coming through the qualifiers. He has since taken on the role of coaching his son Flavio.
Flavio Cobolli, Lorenzo Sonego's love for the ink
Both Flavio Cobolli and Lorenzo Sonego loved getting inked and shared multiple tattoos between them.
Cobolli, the more prolific when it comes to tattoos, has multiple quotes, including one attributed to football legend Daniele De Rossi:
“Sei tu l’unica mia sposa, sei tu l’unico mio amor (You are my only wife, you are my only love)” signifying his love for the sport.
Cobolli also has the words “passion” and “brave” in Mandarin script, the wolf logo for Roma, among other tattoos.
Lorenzo Sonego, meanwhile, has a tattoo reading “fearless” just under his elbow. The tattoo, he said, reflected his attitude on the tennis court.
