TENNIS: Cobolli dismantles De Minaur for return to Wimbledon quarterfinals

LONDON — Flavio Cobolli continued the best Grand Slam run of his career on Monday, defeating Australia's fifth-seeded Alex de Minaur 7-5, 7-6(4), 6-3 to advance to the Wimbledon quarterfinals.

The ninth-seeded Italian reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the second straight year, building on the confidence from his runner-up finish at the French Open just weeks ago.

Cobolli will next face the winner of the fourth-round match between Britain's Arthur Fery and Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov.

The 24-year-old seized control of the opening set by breaking de Minaur's serve in the 11th game after forcing a backhand error. He closed out the set in 50 minutes.

Play was briefly interrupted during the second set when a spectator became ill. During the delay, Cobolli interacted with fans before returning to the court and rallying from a 2-5 deficit by winning three consecutive games. He eventually claimed the set in a tiebreak to take a commanding two-set lead.

Cobolli maintained his aggressive play in the third set, recovering from an early 0-2 deficit and breaking de Minaur again in the sixth game. He stayed in control the rest of the way to complete the straight-sets victory and book another place in the last eight at the All England Club. -Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in London; Editing by Alison Williams/Reuters