The fear of the unknown that brought Giannis to the Heat

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.

Pogacar dominates the first mountain stage

The Slovenian Tadej Pogacar dressed in yellow after only three days of the Tour de France. The big favorite took advantage of the first high mountain stage to score his 22nd victory in the race and take the lead.

In the final sprint towards Les Angles, in the Pyrenees, Pogacar separated from his rivals about 200 meters from the finish line. No one could keep up with him. He crossed the line two seconds ahead of Jonas Vingegaard, Richard Carapaz and Paul Seixas.

Thanks to the 10-second bonus for the victory, Pogacar equaled Vingegaard in overall time, but his stage victory – added to Sunday’s second place – gave him the yellow jersey.

“Wearing the yellow jersey is a dream for any cyclist. Every time I can have it on my shoulders again it feels really special,” declared Pogacar.

The UAE Emirates-XRG rider recognized the work of his teammate Isaac del Toro on the final climb. “It is thanks to Isaac that I had extra power today. More than 100% was delivered,” he added.

This is his 14th victory of the season. Pogacar has already won this year the Tour of Switzerland, the Tour of Romandie, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the Tour of Flanders, Milan-San Remo and Strade Bianche. He is looking for his fifth Tour, something that only Eddy Merckx, Miguel Indurain, Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault achieved.

Vingegaard, champion in 2022 and 2023, had put on yellow on Saturday after the time trial in Barcelona. Now he will have to regain the lead.

The 196 kilometer stage began in Granollers and concluded in Les Angles. The Pogacar team controlled the escape and the last escapee, Alex Baudin, was caught 10 km from the finish line.

In addition, a nearby fire forced the suspension of the advertising caravan in the last 40 km within France.

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.