Flavio Cobolli opens his debut ATP Finals campaign in Turin on Monday night against Daniil Medvedev, stepping onto the home-crowd stage as the sole Italian representative in the draw.
The 24-year-old Italian secured his place at the Inalpi Arena following a breakthrough season highlighted by his run to the Roland Garros final, where he pushed Alexander Zverev to five sets. His qualification was confirmed after results at the Paris Masters fell his way, Yahoo Sports reported. He is one of four debutants at the year-end event, alongside Rafael Jodar, Frances Tiafoe, and Arthur Fils, according to Sports Illustrated.
Cobolli’s path to the year-end championship nearly derailed in October when he suffered a muscle strain during his round-of-16 match against compatriot Matteo Berrettini at the Vienna Open, forcing him to retire in tears, according to Tenniswatcher. As Tenniswatcher noted, the incident occurred on October 29, seven games into the second-round contest.
During his recovery, Jannik Sinner reached out with a private message. Sinner ended his own season early due to knee inflammation, opening the door for other contenders at the ATP Finals.
“I received a very affectionate message from him when I got injured: ‘I love you.’” Cobolli said. “Jannik isn’t in Turin, but it’s almost as if he were. And whenever he gets in touch with me, it means a lot to me.” Tenniswatcher reported that Cobolli told the newspaper Corriere della Sera the three original Italian words were “Ti voglio bene.”
Cobolli later spoke to Sky Sports about carrying the home mantle, as Yardbarker reported.
“Well first of all I hope to bring Jannik’s name to the top because he deserved to be here with me,” Cobolli said.
Placed in the Ivan Lendl group, Cobolli faces a challenging round-robin schedule alongside Carlos Alcaraz, Frances Tiafoe, and Medvedev. Medvedev holds a 2-1 lead in their head-to-head record, though the Italian won their most recent meeting in Madrid earlier this year, Sports Illustrated reported.
The tournament runs through the week at the Inalpi Arena, featuring eight singles players split into two groups competing for a share of the 15,750,000 dollars in total prize money.
Beyond his clay-court success in Paris, Cobolli reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and advanced to his first ATP Masters 1000 semifinal in Cincinnati by defeating fourth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime. He joins Lorenzo Musetti, Berrettini, and Sinner as the only active Italian singles players to compete at the Turin Finals.
Without Sinner in the field, tournament organizers at the Inalpi Arena relied heavily on Cobolli to energize the local crowds, a responsibility made heavier by the spotlight.
Sinner, who would have been bidding to win the tournament, watched from home but publicly endorsed his compatriot by noting that Cobolli deserved his place in the elite eight. Sinner’s absence elevates Carlos Alcaraz as a primary threat in the tournament, alongside two-time champion Alexander Zverev.
Cobolli’s group matches present formidable hurdles, as he holds a combined 2-7 record against opponents in the Ivan Lendl group and a wider 6-18 career win-loss record against the rest of the singles field.
Following his tournament opener on Monday night, which is scheduled not before 20:30 local time, the young Italian will need to harness the resilience that carried him through a grueling 2026 season if he hopes to advance out of group play and make a deep run in front of his home supporters.