SEPT 25 - 27, 2026 | LONDON
Flavio Cobolli returns to Laver Cup this week for a third time, but the Italian has come a long way since first entering the event two years ago.
An alternate for Team Europe at Laver Cup Berlin in 2024, Cobolli joined Yannick Noah’s six-man squad in San Francisco last year. Now, at 24, he arrives at The O2 as a Top 10 player, Grand Slam finalist and one of the most exciting young players on the ATP Tour.
It has been a breakthrough 2026 for Cobolli, who climbed to a career-high No.9 ranking in July after reaching the final at Roland-Garros. Now sitting at No. 7, he is the second-highest-ranked Italian behind Jannik Sinner and part of a bumper generation of Italian talent making its mark at the top of men’s tennis.
Cobolli kicked off the season winning the title in Acapulco and went on to reach the semifinals in Delray Beach and Cincinnati, the quarterfinals in Madrid and Wimbledon, and the final in Munich. But it was his run in Paris that established him on the biggest stage.
Cobolli advanced to his first major final at Roland-Garros, where he faced Laver Cup teammate Alexander Zverev. Although Zverev claimed his maiden Grand Slam title, the run represented a defining moment in Cobolli’s career.
“I never expected all my life this kind of result, and I’m so proud of myself,” he said. “For me it’s not done, it’s only the start.”
His performances have continued to underline that belief. At Wimbledon, Cobolli reached the quarterfinals for the second time, while also recording his 100th career tournament win and demonstrating traits many top ten players have in common: the ability to excel on any surface.
The foundations for his rise were laid in 2024, when Cobolli reached the final in Washington, upsetting No.14-ranked Shelton on the way. He continued his upward trajectory throughout 2025, winning his first two ATP singles titles on clay in Bucharest and Hamburg. In Hamburg, he defeated Andrey Rublev in the final to claim his first ATP 500 title.
When he first joined Team Europe in Berlin, Cobolli absorbed the competition as an alternate in Captain Bjorn Borg’s last campaign leading Team Europe. In San Francisco, he was in the main cast and played an intense Friday night match against Team World’s Joao Fonseca, falling 6-4, 6-3.
This year, he is back and as one of the highest-ranked members of a Team Europe lineup stacked with talent.
“In Berlin I was an alternate and last year played for the first time for Laver Cup,” Cobolli said. “It is a feeling I never had before. I played one match; I lost, but something that I never forget for sure. Something that we never have in a normal Tour. I like to play; I would like to beat the other team. We have another chance. I’m really excited.”
Born in Florence and raised in Rome, Cobolli grew up idolizing Italian tennis star Fabio Fognini and Roma football legend Francesco Totti. He has been close friends with top-level footballer Edoardo Bove since they were seven years old.
Tennis, meanwhile, is a family affair. Cobolli is coached by his father, Stefano, who reached a career-high ranking of No. 236 during his own playing career. Cobolli has several tattoos, including the Wolf of Roma and a symbol representing Florence. Another, written in Chinese, means “brave and passion”, while an Italian inscription reads “going for the win”.
For his third campaign with Team Europe, Cobolli has a chance to make his mark on the competition, supported by teammates he would normally call rivals: Zverev, Carlos Alcaraz, Rafael Jodar, Jakub Mensik, and Casper Ruud.
“The team is incredible. We already talk about the Laver Cup,” he said. “We’re ready to fight, and we’re ready to fight for Team Europe.”
