Flavio Cobolli was a defender in the AS Roma youth academy before tennis won him over in his early teens, and something of the footballer still shows on court: the sprint, the fist, the full-volume celebration. He plays with his heart on his sleeve, a heavy-hitting baseliner who feeds off a crowd and rarely hides what he feels. His father Stefano, a former tour pro, is also his coach, and the pairing has pushed a talented junior into a genuine force on the men's game.
The breakthrough came in 2025. Cobolli lifted his first ATP titles in Bucharest and Hamburg, then reached his maiden Grand Slam quarter-final at Wimbledon, where Novak Djokovic stopped him in four sets. The following June he went deeper still, reaching his first major final at Roland Garros and pushing Alexander Zverev through five sets, level after taking the fourth in a tiebreak before the German ran away with the decider. That fortnight carried him to a career high inside the world's top 10. Across his career so far he has claimed 3, and the best chapters look far from written.
Thirty. That is how many places Luca Van Assche gained after winning the Estoril title, from No. 78 to a career-best No. 48 in the ATP rankings. He was one of two Frenchmen with a tour-level title this week: Quentin Halys won Kitzbuhel and rose 31 places to No. 52. Neither result stirred the top of the list, where Jannik Sinner stayed unmoved at No. 1.
Ranking taleSeventy-eight. That is how many places Arthur Fery climbed in the ATP rankings this week, from 114 to 36, and every one of them came out of a single fortnight at Wimbledon. Above him the other big move was a return: Alexander Zverev, who beat Fery in the semi-final and lost the final, is back at No. 2, the highest he has ever been ranked.
Ranking tale