Pogacar already wears yellow in the Tour de France

Celebration and Italian sport at Wimbledon

Flavio Cobolli left his mark on Court 1. The Italian defeated Australian Alex de Minaur 7-5, 7-6 (4), 6-3 in the fourth round of Wimbledon. His first match point was a 217 km/h serve that the fifth seed could barely return.

Cobolli celebrated like Cristiano Ronaldo: he spun in the air and landed with his feet spread. The crowd chanted “Siuuu” along with him. “I love your celebration. Tonight I cheer for Portugal,” said the tennis player, who was a promising soccer player in the Roma youth team.

The Italian is not the only star from the country in the tournament. Jasmine Paolini also advanced to the quarterfinals by beating Filipino Alexandra Eala 6-4, 4-6, 6-3. Watching her from the Royal Box was Kimi Antonelli, a 19-year-old Formula One driver who leads the classification with Mercedes.

“Then I met with Kimi. I’m becoming a fan of F1,” commented Paolini. Antonelli and defending champion Jannik Sinner — who plays Jan-Lennard Struff on Tuesday — are the most popular athletes in Italy right now, amid domestic soccer’s woes.

Cobolli, for his part, is trying to back up his finish at Roland Garros, where he took Alexander Zverev to five sets. De Minaur led 5-2 in the second set and had a break advantage in the third, but Cobolli did not give up. “Alex is a stratospheric player. Beating him in three sets makes me feel like I’m ready,” he said.

Italian routine and next rival

After the victory, Cobolli’s grandfather had to find a new home for the team in Wimbledon, since they had only booked until the first week. Now they maintain their routine: dinner cooked by their father and coach, Stefano, with their friend Edoardo Bove, a Watford midfielder, before watching a World Cup match and eating pear and white chocolate gelato.

“An Italian family gives us the whole house. It’s really cool,” Cobolli said. His next rival will be the British Arthur Fery, 23, who grew up five minutes from the All England Club.

Paolini, meanwhile, had to avoid being distracted by the presence of Roger Federer in the Royal Box. “He is my idol. During the match I was thinking: please stay focused,” confessed the 30-year-old Italian.

Giannis Antetokounmpo acknowledged the fear of the unknown when changing teams for the first time after 13 years with the Bucks. The two-time NBA MVP posted a video on YouTube on Monday, when his trade to the Miami Heat was finalized.

In the nearly 37-minute recording with former Bucks play-by-play announcer Jim Paschke, the Greek described his mixed emotions.

“I’m afraid that the grass won’t always be greener… People love me here. People respect me here. People allow me to be myself here in the city. And I’m afraid I’ll never find that again.”

He also posted a shorter video on social media to say goodbye to Milwaukee.

Why did he leave?

The same drive that led him to give the Bucks their first title in half a century drove him to seek new challenges. Since the 2021 championship, Milwaukee has not advanced beyond the second round of the playoffs. Their last victory in a postseason series was in 2022.

Antetokounmpo, who will turn 32 in December, said he woke up every day wondering if he needed a change of scenery. Ending his career with regrets seemed just as terrifying to him as leaving what was known.

The decision to join the Heat marks a significant turn in his career. His legacy in Milwaukee is indisputable, but the desire for new challenges prevailed.

A symbolic return

Swiss Roger Federer returned to Wimbledon on Monday, just 18 years after that 2008 final that he lost to Rafael Nadal. He was invited to the Royal Box for the fourth round matches of the tournament.

Wearing a brown double-breasted suit, the eight-time grass Grand Slam champion sat in the front row. He watched the duel of the Filipino Alexandra Eala against Jasmine Paolini, a finalist in 2024. Then followed Grigor Dimitrov’s match against Arthur Fery, a young promise who grew up near the All England Club. And then, the duel between Alexander Zverev and Jiri Lehecka.

When the Zverev-Lehecka match began around 9 p.m., Federer was briefly left alone in the Royal Box.

The defeat in the 2008 final, which Nadal won 9-7 in the fifth set, is considered one of the most memorable in tennis history. It prevented Federer from achieving a sixth consecutive title at Wimbledon, something that had not happened since the 1880s. Paradoxically, that same date – July 6 – was that of his first title in 2003, when he defeated Mark Philippoussis.

Federer won his last Wimbledon in 2017 and retired in 2022. Next month he will be part of the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

Also in the Royal Box were Billie Jean King and Kimi Antonelli, the 19-year-old Mercedes driver who leads the Formula 1 classification.