PARIS, June 3 (Reuters) – Flavio Cobolli said he has always been a little superstitious but the Italian has taken it up a notch at the French Open this year, using 14-times winner Rafa Nadal’s preferred shower stall as he continues his dream run towards a first Grand Slam title.
Cobolli took a big step towards his goal with a 4-6 6-4 6-4 6-4 quarter-final win over fourth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime on Wednesday, revealing in an on-court interview that he had stuck to the same tension level in his racket strings in Paris.
The 24-year-old added he would not change his daily routine to stay at the venue to watch the match between his compatriots Matteo Berrettini and Matteo Arnaldi, preferring instead to go for a meal with his friends.
“I am a little bit (superstitious), but not crazy,” 10th seed Cobolli told reporters later.
“But you know, this week, I’m a little bit more crazy than the others. I just go same restaurant, same menu, same shower.
“Actually, I think I said in the first press conference that I used the same shower as Rafa Nadal, because I had memories with that shower.”
Cobolli said that on one occasion, former world number one Nadal had knocked on the door of the shower in the locker room when he was using it to request that he make it quick.
“He told me that it has been his shower since 14 years,” Cobolli added.
“So I think the best thing that I’m doing (this year) … the shower.”
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in ParisEditing by Toby Davis)
