Flavio Cobolli, the Italian tennis star who will face home favourite Arthur Fery in the Wimbledon quarter-finals, has opened up about his long-term relationship with girlfriend Matilde Galli, whose career path is far removed from the tennis world. The couple met at a birthday party when Cobolli was 18 and ranked outside the top 1,000, and they have remained together through his rise to World No. 10.
Relationship Roots and Challenges
Cobolli, 24, told ATPTour.com in April: "I knew her when I was no one. I was outside of this Tour, and I grew up completely here. I met her when I was 18, I was one-thousand-and-something in the world, and we're still together. So I think we found something that, of course, is working." Galli, meanwhile, is pursuing a demanding academic path to become a sanitary director at a hospital, requiring rigorous exams and study.
Balancing a professional tennis career with a partner's academic commitments is not easy, Cobolli admitted. "When she's nervous [studying for an exam], I try to be kind to her and help make her life easier. But it's not easy when you're always on the Tour, and you have pressure everywhere and have another pressure at home. It's not easy. But I think we are doing well. We have a great relationship," he said in the same interview.
Dreams for the Future
The couple's time together is limited due to Galli's studies and Cobolli's constant travel on the ATP Tour. Cobolli expressed his hope for their future: "My best dream is watching her happy in what she does. Your family is very important because we spend our time really well, we do many things that we normally cannot do. So my dream is to have more time with her and to see her happy in whatever she does." He also revealed his desire for a lifelong partnership: "I love her a lot, and I think she also loves me. We are very young, but we already have a great experience with ourselves and our lives to say that she's the one that I want to have for all my life."
Wimbledon Run and Housing Drama
Cobolli's path to the quarter-finals included a straight-sets victory over Alex de Minaur (7-5, 7-6, 6-3), whose fiancee and former British No. 1 Katie Boulter watched from the stands. After the match, Cobolli revealed a temporary housing issue: "My grandfather help us to found a solution for tonight. But we found solution for all the week, I hope. An Italian family gave us [a] house here in Wimbledon, so it's really cool. I will say thanks to them when I see them."
Cobolli, who lost to Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals last year, is aiming for his first Wimbledon semi-final and a second career Grand Slam final after losing to Alexander Zverev at the French Open in June.
