It was a double breakthrough kind of day for rising Italian star Flavio Cobolli at Wimbledon on Monday, as he not only reached the first Grand Slam quarterfinal of his career, but in doing so also secured his Top 20 debut on the ATP rankings.
Already through to the fourth round of a Grand Slam event for the first time, the 23-year-old from Florence battled past 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic, 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3), to one-up his personal best by one more round and reach his first final eight.
And with that, according to the ATP’s official live rankings, Cobolli guarantees himself of breaking into the Top 20 next Monday, rising from No. 24 to either No. 19 or No. 20, depending on other players’ results.
It’s been an incredible rise over the last few months, as he was ranked No. 45 at the beginning of April. But he rose from No. 45 to No. 36 on April 7th after winning the ATP 250 event in Bucharest, then from No. 35 to No. 26 on May 26th after winning the ATP 500 event in Hamburg.
Those were the first two ATP titles of his career.
And now, his first major quarterfinal will propel him into the Top 20.
Cobolli, who was born in 2002, will become the seventh player born in 2002 or later to reach the ATP Top 20.
MEN BORN IN 2002 OR LATER TO REACH TOP 20:
Carlos Alcaraz [born in 2003, Top 20 debut in 2022]
Holger Rune [born in 2003, Top 20 debut in 2022]
Lorenzo Musetti [born in 2002, Top 20 debut in 2023]
Ben Shelton [born in 2002, Top 20 debut in 2023]
Arthur Fils [born in 2004, Top 20 debut in 2024]
Jakub Mensik [born in 2005, Top 20 debut in 2025]
Flavio Cobolli [born in 2002, Top 20 debut in 2025]
Alcaraz, Rune, Musetti and Shelton have all since cracked the Top 10, too, going as high as No. 1, No. 4, No. 6 and No. 10, respectively.