Those who have followed Cobolli’s rise over the past 12 months will not be surprised to see him making a maiden appearance in the last eight of a Grand Slam.
He won his first ATP Tour title this year in Romania and followed that up with victory in Hamburg – both on his favoured surface of clay.
Cobolli has previously stated that as a junior he “hated playing on grass”.
Ironic for someone who also played football, spending five years in the academy of his beloved football club Roma, where he played as a right-back.
He has a tattoo on his chest with the words ‘sei tu l’unica mia sposa, sei tu l’unico mio amor’ which translates as ‘you are my only wife, you are my only love’ – a famous quote from club legend Daniele de Rossi.
When he won the French Open boys’ singles title in 2020, he held a Roma scarf above his head in celebration and says he still prefers to watch football than tennis, attending matches when he can.
He chose to pursue tennis aged 14, preferring the solo nature of the game, and is starting to reap the rewards.
Against the wily Cilic, who beat Briton Jack Draper in the second round and was enjoying his best run at Wimbledon since reaching the final in 2017, Cobolli showed efficiency and poise, needing just two breaks of serve to take a two-set lead.
World number 83 Cilic finally got into the contest when an untimely double fault from Cobolli handed the Croat the third set, the first blemish on Cobolli’s perfect record at this tournament.
With strong strokes from the baseline forming a solid foundation and an impressive shot variety at his disposal, Cobolli quickly put Cilic on the back foot with break points in the fourth.
The pair traded breaks before another tie-break sealed Cobolli’s place in the quarter-finals, where he hopes he will get to play on one of the Grand Slam’s main courts.
His father Stefano, a former tennis player himself who peaked at 238 in the rankings, is now his coach and was in tears as Cobolli lifted his arms to take in the crowd’s adulation after a gruelling three hours and 27 minutes on court.
Cilic, who has showed great perseverance to return to the sport after several years of injury problems, waved to all sides of the court as he departed, perhaps signalling he does not know whether he will get to play at the grass-court major again.