(Reuters) – Flavio Cobolli has several tattoos expressing his love for his favourite football club and his girlfriend, and the Italian youngster plans to add to his collection by having the Roland Garros logo inked on his body if he qualifies for the French Open main draw.
The 21-year-old, who plays his final qualifier on Friday, is one win away from reaching his first Grand Slam, which he says would be a “dream come true”.
“I have a lot of tattoos, three for my football team, a few for my girlfriend. I go to the tattoo artist and never have a plan. I have one with a song on,” Cobolli told the Roland Garros website.
“For sure (if I qualify), I will go get the Roland Garros logo, let’s see.”
Cobolli won the French Open boys’ doubles title in 2020, celebrating his win on court by holding up a scarf of his beloved soccer club AS Roma.
Once a youth player in the club’s ranks, he made the switch to tennis when he was 13.
While most qualifiers look to avoid the top seeds in the main draw in the hopes of a deeper run, the confident Cobolli wants a match-up with 22-times Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic.
“It is one of the goals of my life to play Grand Slams. If I get to play Djokovic on a key court, that would be unbelievable,” he said.
“I’m the next one, the next star … I think I deserve it. The game I have built puts players in trouble and makes it difficult.”
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
