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Cobolli has taken the first set from Cilic, 6-4, after 36 minutes. The break in the Croatian’s second service game was the difference. It was a comprehensive performance on serve for the young Italian: he got 83% of his first serves in, won 17 of 20 points behind the first serve (85%) and has only dropped four points on his racket so far.
Cobolli has drawn first blood against Cilic on a windswept Court No 2, breaking for 3-1 early in the first set. The Croatian saved a break point in his opening service game then another serving at 1-2, 30-40 after the Italian misfired a backhand. But Cobolli finally broke through moments later when Cilic netted a backhand from behind the baseline early in a rally.
Jordan Thompson has withdrawn from the men’s doubles due to the hamstring injury that forced him to retire from his fourth-round singles match with Taylor Fritz on Sunday. Wimbledon Radio reports the Australian attempted a warm-up this morning in the practice courts but couldn’t continue. Thompson and partner Pierre-Hugues Herbert were scheduled to face defending champions Henry Patten of Great Britain and Harri Heliovaara of Finland in the third round. The match was set for Court 12 but was called off minutes before it began.
Heliovaara and Patten advance to the quarter-finals by a walkover, a boost for Patten, the Manningtree native enjoying another dream run on home soil. The duo are hunting a third slam title at their fifth major having only joined up in April 2024.
It’s youth versus experience on No 2 Court as Italy’s Flavio Cobolli faces 2014 US Open champion Marin Čilić in their first-ever meeting on grass. Their previous two encounters, both on clay, ended in one-sided wins for Cobolli, most recently a 6-2, 6-1, 6-3 thrashing at Roland Garros just five weeks ago. But Wimbledon is a different arena, and Cilic, a former finalist here, has the grass-court pedigree to make this a much tighter affair.
As recently as last August, while the tour’s elite were competing at the US Open in New York, Cilic was toiling away at a Challenger in Manacor, ranked 1,084th in the world and fighting his way back from knee surgery. Less than a year later, he’s back in the second week of a slam and looking dangerous again.
Cobolli, 23, is enjoying the best season of his young career. He’s won titles in Bucharest and Hamburg, cracked the top 25, and is now through to the second week of a major for the first time without dropping a set. A win on Monday would make him just the eighth Italian man ever to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals – and potentially part of a historic trio with Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Sonego should all three advance.
Cilic, now 36, upset No 4 seed Jack Draper in round two and remains a formidable force on grass, where he owns three career titles and a 34-13 Wimbledon record. He’s spent over two hours more on court than Cobolli this week, but brings a wealth of big-match experience, including 28 five-set wins and 15 slam quarter-final appearances.
The players are finishing up their warm-ups at the moment and should be under way in a couple of minutes.
Today's order of play
Here’s a look at today’s men’s and women’s singles matches in the round of 16:
Centre Court (1.30pm BST/8.30am ET)
Alex de Minaur (6) v Novak Djokovic (11)
Mirra Andreeva (7) v Emma Navarro (10)
Jannik Sinner (1) v Grigor Dimitrov
No 1 Court (1pm BST/8am ET)
Ekaterina Alexandrova (18) v Belinda Bencic
Ben Shelton (10) v Lorenzo Sonego
Iga Świątek (8) v Clara Tauson (23)
No 2 Court (11am BST/6am ET)
Preamble
The round of 16 continues today on the eighth day of the Championships at SW19 as the second week of the tournament gets into full swing and the quarterfinal picture begins to take shape.
Among the headliners, Novak Djokovic returns to Centre Court chasing history. At 38, and just months removed from knee surgery, the seven-time Wimbledon champion has looked sharp and assured: diving volleys, dancing celebrations and all. He faces the tireless Alex de Minaur, whose speed and grit could test even Djokovic’s legendary flexibility and composure. A win today would edge the Serbian one step closer to becoming the oldest grand slam singles champion in the Open era – and to his 25th major title.
Jannik Sinner, meanwhile, has been nothing short of clinical. The world No 1 hasn’t dropped serve through three rounds, and has surrendered just 17 games en route to the fourth round – a joint record in the Open era. He faces Grigor Dimitrov in a potentially stylish clash of clean ball-strikers on Centre Court.
On the women’s side, Iga Świątek continues her steady push toward a first Wimbledon title. The five-time major winner, who lifted the girls’ trophy here in 2018, faces Denmark’s Clara Tauson on No 1 Court. With all former champions already eliminated, the world No 1 is the only woman left in the bottom half of the draw who knows what it takes to win a Slam.
Elsewhere, teenage sensation Mirra Andreeva takes on Emma Navarro, while 2017 finalist Marin Čilić tries to keep his run alive against Italy’s Flavio Cobolli.
By the end of play, the eight quarter-finalists in each draw will be fixed. The business end of Wimbledon has well and truly begun.
