By ANDREW DAMPF AP Sports Writer
LONDON — On his first match point, Flavio Cobolli stepped up and unleashed a 135 mph first serve down the T that landed on the line and sent a puff of chalk into the air on Court No. 1 at Wimbledon.
Fifth-seeded opponent Alex de Minaur could barely touch the serve and the Australian’s weak return didn’t even go past his own service line.
Cobolli reacted by leaping into the air and pumping his fist. He launched a ball into the crowd before moving forward to shake hands with De Minaur.
Then the Italian moved on to the performance he had been waiting for.
Cobolli put his racket down and went back out into the center of the court and launched himself into the most iconic celebration in soccer: twirling in mid-air like Cristiano Ronaldo, he then landed on the grass with his feet planted wide and jerked his arms down by his side.
The mostly English crowd knew just what was going on and shouted “Siuuu” along with Cobolli.
“I love his celebration. I love him,” said Cobolli, who was once a promising soccer player himself in Roma’s youth system. “I will cheer for Portugal (against Spain at the World Cup ) tonight because of Ronaldo.”
In his previous match, Cobolli performed a surfing celebration borrowed from Brazil striker Matheus Cunha.
ANTONELLI AND SINNER
While four-time champion Italy failed to qualify for a third consecutive World Cup, the country has no lack of sports stars and a few of them were in the spotlight at the grass-court Grand Slam on Monday.
Cobolli’s 7-5, 7-6 (4), 6-3 victory over a fellow top-10 player to reach the quarterfinals was a statement win as he attempts to back up his run to the French Open final.
At the same time over on Centre Court, Jasmine Paolini ended the run of rising Filipino player Alexandra Eala with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 victory to return to the last eight at a Grand Slam for the first time since back-to-back runs to the Roland Garros and Wimbledon finals two years ago.
Watching Paolini from the Royal Box was Kimi Antonelli, the 19-year-old Italian driver who leads the Formula One standings for Mercedes.
“I met Kimi afterward,” Paolini said. “I’ve been following him a lot lately. I’m becoming an F1 fan. He seems like a real nice kid and very down to earth.”
Coinciding with Italy’s troubles in soccer, Antonelli and defending Wimbledon champion Jannik Sinner – who plays Jan-Lennard Struff on Tuesday for a spot in the semifinals – have become the country’s most popular athletes.
Cobolli, too, is rapidly gaining attention after his run to the Paris final, where he pushed Alexander Zverev to five sets.
De Minaur led 5-2 in the second set and was up a break twice in the third. But Cobolli wouldn’t be deterred.
“Alex is a stratospheric player. So beating him three sets to none makes me feel like I’m ready,” Cobolli said when asked if he’s ready for another deep run. “This gave me a lot of answers, and I think it provided a lot of answers to my opponents, too.”
FERY MAKES BRITISH TENNIS HISTORY
Arthur Fery used to come to Wimbledon when he was a kid to watch Roger Federer on Centre Court.
He grew up only five minutes away from the All England Club.
On Monday, the tables were turned when Federer was in attendance watching Fery on the sport’s most famous court as he became the first British wild card to reach the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam in the professional era (since 1968).
Fery beat fellow wild Grigor Dimitrov – a former top-five player – 7-5, 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7).
When it was over Fery, dropped his racket to the grass and held his hands up in disbelief.
“We’ve got probably the greatest of all time watching in the front row over there,” Fery said, nodding in Federer’s direction. “And now playing here in front of all you guys, having the support and winning, it’s unbelievable.”
Fery’s quarterfinal opponent will be Cobolli.
Fery beat Cobolli in straight sets in the first round of this year’s Australian Open after coming through qualifying.
“(In) Australia I was sick,” Cobolli said. “Of course, Arthur is amazing player, but that match I couldn’t play.”
WORLD CUP AND GELATO
After the victory over De Minaur, Cobolli’s grandfather had to go and find a new house for their team in the Wimbledon village since they had only reserved through the first week.
Now they can maintain Flavio’s nightly routine during the fortnight: dinner cooked by his father and coach, Stefano, and shared with his best friend, Watford midfielder Edoardo Bove, before watching a World Cup match and downing a tub of gelato (pear and white chocolate is Cobolli’s flavor for the tournament).
“An Italian family give us all the house here in Wimbledon,” Cobolli said. “So it’s really cool.”
PAOLINI DOESN’T LET FEDERER DISTRACT HER
Besides the challenge presented by the 21-year-old Eala, who eliminated defending champion Iga Swiatek in the previous round, the 5-foot-4 Paolini also had to try and not to let the presence of Roger Federer in the Royal Box distract her.
At one point, Antonelli sat right next to Federer, the owner of a men’s record eight Wimbledon singles titles.
“He is my idol,” the 30-year-old Paolini said of Federer in an on-court interview. “I was like during the match, ‘Please stay focused, stay focused. Don’t think about he’s here.’ I was watching all the finals and all the tournaments he was playing here.”
Paolini’s next opponent will be Marta Kostyuk, the Ukrainian player who reached her first Wimbledon quarterfinal by beating American qualifier Ashlyn Krueger, 6-4, 6-4.
It was the hottest day of the tournament so far, as the temperature rose to 90 degrees, prompting players to place bags of ice around their necks on changeovers.
Another women’s quarterfinal will feature Linda Noskova against Elise Mertens.
The strong performance by Italian players follows similar results at the French Open, where three men reached the quarterfinals despite Sinner’s second-round meltdown in a Paris heat wave.
EALA PROVIDES ‘RAY OF HOPE’
Despite falling short of reaching the quarterfinals, Eala still made a lasting impact at Wimbledon.
The young Filipina who had toppled Swiatek couldn’t solve Paolini.
For Filipino fans – both at watch parties back home and at the All England Club – it’s not always about wins and losses.
“She’s like a ray of hope for the Philippines,” fan Roberto Ocampo Jr. said Monday at Wimbledon. “Especially at her age. She made history. That’s one thing that we can tell to the next generation.”
Eala, who lost in the first round a year ago in her Wimbledon debut, became the first player from the Philippines to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam singles tournament in the Open era, the women’s professional tour said.
“Setting foot here is already a big achievement,” said Ocampo, a London-based nurse.
The left-handed Eala talked this week about Filipino pride and being a role model for kids back home. But she also made it clear that she has big plans for her tennis career.
In dissecting her loss to Paolini, she pointed to problems with her serve.
“But I have days like that. Everyone has days where they don’t play their best tennis,” said Eala, who trained at the Rafael Nadal Tennis Academy in Spain as a teenager. “I understand that’s part of the job. I don’t think I’m going to be playing the best tennis of my life every single day.
“With that being said,” she added, “I’m really proud of how I handled things. I just have to kind of move forward and continue with my progress.”
Eala, who made a breakthrough in March 2025 by reaching the Miami Open semifinals, has elevated her stardom at Wimbledon, both on and off the court.
Eala met Kate, the princess of Wales, and took a photo with her. A photo of Eala diving for a ball in the match against Swiatek also has made the rounds, with edits showing Eala wearing a cape and “Superwoman” outfit.
The Philippines Embassy in the U.K. has tracked her progress and posted congratulatory notes.
Eala spoke earlier in the tournament about her childhood memories of boxing great Manny Pacquiao.
“When he would have fights, it would really be like holidays in the Philippines,” she said. “We would gather and we would watch his fights. People would go off work. It would really be an event. He is someone super inspiring as an athlete.”
Filipino Olympic champions are treated as national heroes. Gymnast Carlos Yulo, who won two gold medals in the Paris Olympics, returned home to pledges of cash and gifts, including a house. Eala also cited champion weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz.
And now there’s Eala.
Ocampo, the tennis fan at Wimbledon, hopes that Eala’s success leads to more opportunities in the Philippines.
“This kind of sport (many) are not privileged enough to hold a tennis racket,” he said. “There’s so many kids back home, they have the talent. They need the opportunity.”
AP Sports Writer Ken Maguire contributed to this report.