When a tennis match stretches to two days, the pressure on the players increases, as they have to start from scratch on the new day, which Flavio Cobolli did successfully during his first-round encounter against Mariano Navone. The Italian’s Wimbledon match was suspended on Tuesday due to poor lighting, and he had to return on Wednesday to finish it. However, what was more entertaining was the Italian’s comments after winning the match, which included his father.

“I just wanna break something now. I cannot stop [moving his feet]. You see?” said Cobolli during his on-court interview. “I need to eat [hit] something! I think I will eat [hit] my dad now.”

“You’ll eat your dad?” asked the interviewer, not being able to understand his pronunciation.

Flavio replied, “For sure. The first person that I will hit. I still don’t know with what. You’ll see tomorrow if he has a black thing on the face.” The Italian was full of adrenaline, and made it clear in a humorous vein that it would be his father who would be bearing the brunt of his wrath for having to play two days.

The match in itself was in a tight position from the start. Entering Wimbledon after his Roland Garros heroics, Cobolli was not off to a good start, losing 1-6 to Navone, known more for his clay-court prowess. The danger was real for Cobolli when he was 2-4 down in the second set, but the Italian turned it around to win the second set in the tiebreak, following which he took the third set 6-3. However, the fading light intervened, and the play had to be continued on the next day.

Navone came with a renewed vigor on the second day, serving for the fourth set at 6-5. Cobolli saved three set points to break back, and then saved another three set points in the ensuing tiebreaker to close the match out in his favor. However, this break of play across days is unique to The Championships, as they do not have artificial lights on the outer courts and have a strict curfew as well, which mandates the day’s play to be stopped after 11 p.m. Cobolli was not the only one, as the match between Frances Tiafoe and Terence Atmane was also shifted to Wednesday for the same reasons.

The match win will give Cobolli a lot of confidence going into the tournament, as the Italian will now face James Duckworth in the second round on Thursday. The Italian will be playing for three consecutive days, but he only played one set on Wednesday, which should not have much impact on him. Cobolli has a 1-1 head-to-head record against Duckworth, but given current form, the Italian should be able to get past the Australian.

However, the draw does get tricky from there on, as possible meetings against Karen Khachanov and Alex de Minaur await Cobolli in the third and fourth rounds, two competitors the Italian has not beaten in his career, across three combined meetings. Cobolli, however, has a lot to defend after reaching the quarterfinals at Wimbledon last year, which will give him additional motivation to do well in the tournament.