Who is Flavio Cobolli? The scoop on Rafael Nadal's first hurdle in Barcelona return

It’s official! On Tuesday, Rafael Nadal will make his long-awaited return to clay courts at a tournament he’s won a record 12 times: the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell.

His opponent across the net? Flavio Cobolli.

The 21-year-old is one of an impressive six Italians age 23 and under ranked inside the Top 100. Cobolli entered 2024 with six tour-level wins to his name and has already added nine this season.

The Basics:

• DOB: May 6, 2002
• Birthplace: Florence, Italy
• Height: 6’0” (1.83 m)
• Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
• Career-high rank: No. 62 (equaled this week)
• Coach: Stefano Cobolli

The Bio:

Introduced to the sport by his father, Cobolli initially took more to the football pitch in his youth before a tennis court eventually won him over. He made the most of every opportunity to watch idol Fabio Fognini growing up and has since turned that fandom into friendship with the flashy shot-maker. Having also looked up to Novak Djokovic, a hero he hopes to face off against one day, Cobolli turned pro in 2020 and celebrated his first ATP Challenger title two years later on clay in Zadar, Croatia.

His first taste of tour success came this time last year at the BMW Open in Munich, where a pair of wins sent Cobolli through to his first ATP quarterfinal—a signal for his major main-draw debut following a successful qualification at Roland Garros. In Paris, Cobolli experienced his first taste of the level required to reach the top of the mountain when he was dismissed by then world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz.

But his biggest splash to date came in January. Once again navigating his way through qualifying after just missing out on direct entry at the Australian Open, Cobolli—whose favorite shot is his forehand—knocked out No. 18 seed Nicolas Jarry for his maiden Top 50 win on his way to the third round.

The Rome resident has since added victories over Gael Monfils and Felix Auger-Aliassime, plus advanced to additional quarterfinals at Montpellier and Delray Beach en route to cracking the Top 65.

Coming In:

Cobolli won his first 2024 clay-court encounter in Marrakech over Abdullah Shelbayh, but fell to Pavel Kotov in a Melbourne rematch the following round. He was then eliminated in the opening stage of Monte Carlo qualifying by Sumit Nagal.

The world No. 62 is 3-3 lifetime against left-handers at the tour level, including 2-2 this season.

Fun Fact:

Cobolli loves tattoos and takes a spontaneous approach to adding new ink.