May 24, 2025
Flavio Cobolli won the biggest title of his career on Saturday at the Bitpanda Hamburg Open, where he overcame third seed Andrey Rublev 6-2, 6-4 to capture the ATP 500 trophy in Germany.
The Italian played aggressively, showed great athleticism to handle Rublev’s power and handled the pressure in the closing stages. He fended off two break points when serving for the match at 5-4 in the second set, according to Infosys ATP Stats, to triumph. After sealing victory, Cobolli collapsed to the ground before he rose to embrace Rublev and the packed crowd.
“I think it is the best moment and match of my life for sure,” Cobolli said. “I have to say sorry to Andrey because today I played unbelievable. I am so happy and proud of myself. I can see my family, friends, brother and girlfriend here and it is a surprise.
“I am really happy. I passed many battles this year and this kind of day is good for your mind. I am so happy. I just want to [lift] the trophy.”
With his 90-minute win, Cobolli clinched his second tour-level title, having lifted his maiden trophy on clay at the ATP 250 in Bucharest in April. The 23-year-old is up nine spots to No. 26 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings following his latest triumph and is set to rise to a career-high on Monday.
Former champion Rublev was chasing his second title of the season after winning in Doha. Rublev had slipped to No. 17 in the PIF ATP Rankings after being unable to defend his points at the ATP Masters 1000 in Madrid earlier this month, but responded well with an final showing in Hamburg.
The 27-year-old, who is up two spots to No. 15 in the Live ATP Rankings, was overpowered in the baseline exchanges against Cobolli, hitting 16 (10-26) fewer winners than the Italian during the pair’s first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting.
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