Six years apart, Matteo was followed by Flavio’s father in the first tournaments. And then the scene in the video in which they comment on a match as baby opponents, snacks in hand…
The cheering, the hugs, the teasing in the press conference: “Come on, don’t make fun of me” says Flavio Cobolli to Matteo Berrettini after the triumph in Davis. The third in a row for Italy and the first for the young Cobolli. Their relationship has been like this since they were two very young people. Six years of difference, with Matteo playing the first youth tournaments followed by Stefano Cobolli, Flavio’s father. The viral video that comes from the 2011 Lemon Bowl, with a 15-year-old Berrettini and a just 9-year-old Cobolli, makes an impression: “Is he your student?” they ask Cap. “Maybe!”, he replies Cobbo little boy enjoying his snack before going to the changing rooms. A lot of tennis passed before the two met again on the circuit, before their roles returned to what they once were. With Berrettini acting as the ‘big brother’ and Cobolli taking him as a point of reference, watching him to understand how it’s done. Berrettini became great on the circuit followed by Vincenzo Santopadre, who is Flavio’s godfather, and Cobolli, the youngest around the circuit with his father Stefano, tough with a tender heart, who in Bologna was moved by the feat of his son and the boys. Of Flavio and Matteo, the former children who won six matches in Davis, three each, without ever troubling the doubles players: “Not even in a film could this have happened. Not even the best director could have shot a story like this…”. But sometimes life can be more imaginative than a good screenwriter.