Flavio Cobolli said he made the mistake of &ldquo;thinking&rdquo; before he steadied on Monday and clawed into the French Open quarter-finals, beating Zachary Svajda 6-2, 6-3, 6-7 (3/7), 7-6 (7/5).
Cobolli raced through the first two sets in a total of one hour 25 minutes, breaking twice in each.
Then he wobbled once to surrender the third set and, leading 5-1 and with a match point, wobbled again in the fourth before surging through the tiebreak.
<img title="Brazil&rsquo;s Joao Fonseca during his win over Norway&rsquo;s Casper Ruud" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2026/jun/fonsec_e.jpg" alt="Brazil&rsquo;s Joao Fonseca during his win over Norway&rsquo;s Casper Ruud" width="1280" height="720" />Brazil&rsquo;s Joao Fonseca during his win over Norway&rsquo;s Casper Ruud
&ldquo;The match is never done and today I almost s**t in my pants,&rdquo; said Cobolli on court immediately after the match.
He offered a more analytical response at his later press conference. &ldquo;I think when the match is almost done, you start to think of it, and that&rsquo;s the problem with my character, because I don&rsquo;t like to think a bit,&rdquo; he said.
&ldquo;I just want to play, play my best tennis possible. But if I think, especially if I&rsquo;m nervous, I start to play a different tennis.&rdquo;
At No. 10, the Italian goes into the last eight as the third-highest remaining men&rsquo;s seed. It will be the 24-year-old&rsquo;s second Grand Slam quarter-final. He reached the last eight at Wimbledon last season.
Cobolli will face either fourth-seeded Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime or unseeded Chilean Alejandro Tabilo.
Meanwhile, Brazilian sensation Joao Fonseca clinched a dramatic four-set triumph against Casper Ruud in the French Open last 16, backing up his win over Novak Djokovic in style. The 19-year-old powered his way to a 7-5, 7-6 (10/8), 5-7, 6-2 win in the night match on Sunday to reach his maiden Grand Slam quarter-final. &rdquo;It was tough, Casper plays good here, he&rsquo;s a very experienced guy and he knows how to play here on this court,&rdquo; said Fonseca, who hit 51 winners in another exciting display.
&ldquo;It was tough in the beginning but I played well in the important moments in the first and second sets.&rdquo;
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“I just want to play, play my best tennis possible. But if I think, especially if I’m nervous, I start to play a different tennis,” said Flavio Cobolli

French Open | ‘Almost s**t in my pants’: Flavio Cobolli after securing win against Zachary Svajda

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Home / Sports / Other Sports / Article / French Open | ‘Almost s**t in my pants’: Flavio Cobolli after securing win against Zachary Svajda

French Open | ‘Almost s**t in my pants’: Flavio Cobolli after securing win against Zachary Svajda

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