The China Mail - Cobolli takes centre stage at 'chance of my life' French Open

The 24-year-old Cobolli will meet Alexander Zverev in his first ever Grand Slam title-match, where he will seek to go one better than Sinner managed last season and become the first Italian man to lift the Coupe des Mousquetaires since Adriano Panatta in 1976.

Since world number one Sinner, the overwhelming favourite for the title, fell to a shock second-round defeat, the men's draw in Paris has been wide open.

Cobolli, the 10th seed, said this year's Roland Garros was "the chance of my life" after he beat Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarter-finals, before getting a walkover into the final when his compatriot Matteo Arnaldi pulled out of their last-four showdown due to a virus.

On the back of his run at the French Open, Cobolli will break more new ground in his career, by entering the top 10 for the first time.

"I'm really happy for the result that I reached this week," Cobolli, who won the boys' doubles at Roland Garros in 2020, said.

"My dad also came to me... and we had a big hug together with the whole team for achieving the top 10. Every time that I make the best ranking, we all together have a big hug."

If so far, Cobolli has not achieved as much success as Sinner or current Italian number two Lorenzo Musetti, all that could change on Sunday.

Should he add a major to his clay-court titles in Hamburg and Bucharest from last season, as well as a hard-court title picked up in Acapulco earlier this year, Cobolli will ensure his place in the history books of tennis.

- 'Little bit crazy' -

However, tennis was not, and is not, Cobolli's sole passion in life.

Born in Florence in 2002, Cobolli spent his childhood in Rome and played in the academy set-up of his beloved AS Roma.

If by his own admission "I even liked more (football) than tennis when I was young", Cobolli decided he preferred playing an individual sport, where he had to rely on nobody but himself and his father and coach Stefano Cobolli -- also a former professional tennis player.

"In the end, I don't like to play with a team; only in Davis Cup. So I decide to quit with football," Cobolli said.

"I mean, when I play tennis, I feel different emotion, and I feel better with myself."

He nonetheless remains an avid football fan and even made a re-appearance on Court Philippe Chatrier shortly after his last-16 win over Zachary Svajda to meet Paris Saint-Germain stars, including Ousmane Dembele, and take a selfie with the Champions League trophy.

Cobolli is also a self-proclaimed creature of habit, and admitted that superstitious trait had blossomed over his fortnight in Paris.

"I am a little bit (superstitious), but not crazy," he joked.

"But, you know, this week I'm a little bit more crazy than the others. I just go same restaurant, same menu, same shower."

That particular shower was not selected at random either, it was the chosen Roland Garros stall of 14-time champion Rafael Nadal.

"I used the same shower as Rafa, because I had memory with that shower that I (was using it), and he knocked, and I had to be hurry because he was waiting on me," Cobolli said.

"He told me that it was his shower since 14 years."

If Cobolli wins his first Grand Slam title this weekend, he might find he has some stiff competition to use that shower during his title defence next year.

U.Chen--ThChM