Novak Djokovic meets a tennis star who “idolizes” him and copies his tactics | Tennis | sport

Novak Djokovic will face one of his biggest fans in the round of 16 of the Shanghai Open. The Serbian icon defeated American Alex Michelsen in an unexpectedly tough battle, winning both sets before prevailing 7-6, 7-6.

On Tuesday he will now face rising Italian star Flavio Cobolli, with the 22-year-old making no secret of his admiration for the man, 15 years his senior.

Cobolli has already defeated a veteran star this week, beating Stan Wawrinka 6-7, 7-6, 6-3 in their own first-round clash.

Afterwards, he seemed to enjoy the upcoming meeting with Djokovic, despite being a big underdog. “He has been my idol since I started playing tennis,” he said. “I grew up watching videos of his games. I still fall asleep thinking about his shots, so it's great to play against him and I want to enjoy every point on this court.”

His comments come just weeks after Cobolli, who reached the third round of the US Open last month, admitted he tries to copy the 24-time Grand Slam champion in his matches. After defeating Felix Auger-Aliassime at the Canadian Open, he said: “I always had Nole as a reference player.

“I try to imitate him there too. I not only like his technique, but also his mentality. I also try to take these little things as examples of what he says during the conference. Since he explained how he positively changed a crowd’s support for his opponent, I used that method.”

Cobolli had already spoken out in favor of Djokovic at the beginning of 2022 after he was controversially deported home from Victoria just one day before the start of the Australian Open. “Novak Djokovic is my idol. He is going through a difficult time but he will always be my idol,” he said Tennis World Italy.

“Among the big three (including Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer), he is the one who is closest to me. Because we like to defend, but we also like to counter, and we both react well.”

Djokovic returned for the tournament in 2023, with Cobolli failing to qualify before finally making his debut at Melbourne Park this year. And he also praised the former number 1's influence on him when he was allowed back down under.

“It’s important for us to have Nole on the tour,” he said. “He's No. 1 for me, my idol. I hope to see him in Australia and get some points playing and training there too.”

Cobolli is currently ranked 30th in the world and continues to aim for his first ATP Tour title. However, the 28th seed came to Shanghai after a strong performance at the China Open, reaching the quarterfinals before losing to Daniil Medvedev.