Flavio Cobolli nutmegs himself, then speaks in third person in delightful post-match interview

Flavio Cobolli may have had the quote of this year’s U.S. Open. 

The Italian had just defeated Australian Tristan Schoolkate at Grandstand when he was being interviewed on the court and gave a rather hilarious answer as he was referring to himself in the third person. 

“Being Flavio Cobolli is always … I mean, sometimes it’s good. Sometimes it’s not,” he said with a smile. “Today, I love to be Flavio Cobolli.”

Flavio Cobolli of Italy celebrates after winning his match against Tristan Schoolkate of Australia during the second round of the U.S. Open tennis championships on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026, in New York. AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth

The answer delighted the crowd and it was hard to argue with the 24-year-old on Thursday as he advanced to the third round of the tournament for the third consecutive year with his 33rd win of the 2026 tennis season. 

Cobolli certainly did it with a bit of flair when he picked up a point with a between-the-legs shot in the third set. 

The Italian managed to hit the ball cleanly through his legs and over the head of Schoolkate. 

The Italian tennis star joked that “nothing” was going with the “tweener” and that it was the third time in his career that he’s tried it in a match.

But don’t call it the best shot of his career. “I did better,” he said.

“Today I tried [the tweener] for the third time and it was really good to see the ball land into the line,” Cobolli said during his press conference after the match. “I think I’m not going to try again in the next matches, but maybe I’m going to work in practice maybe for my game.”

Cobolli did not say what happened the previous two times he’d tried the fancy shot.

Cobolli has become a darling of the tournament with his very memorable moments in front of the microphones and has had a big season on the court, which included reaching the final at Roland Garros. 

He went viral earlier in the week when he discussed what he’s explored in New York City with his family, coming to the realization that “museum, I think, is not for me.”

Italy’s Flavio Cobolli celebrates after winning his second-round match against Australia’s Tristan Schoolkate at the U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows, New York, on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026. REUTERS

As for playing on some of the sport’s biggest stages, Cobolli is embracing the pressure that comess with it.

“The pressure that I say is always outside the court. When I’m on the court I feel more comfortable,” he explained. I feel more Flavio, so I don’t feel a lot of pressure. Because I like to compete, I like to stay on court, I like to make this war in the court. So it’s very nice to have pressure in the court.

“But sometimes I feel a little bit of pressure outside of the court because for what I did this year, for what I want to achieve, and for what I want to do in my future. I know that pressure is here but is something that, like I said on that day, something that don’t have to take me out of energy but be like as a friend.”