Novak Djokovic is the No. 1 for me, says Flavio Cobolli, hopes to practice with Serbian great during Australian Open

World No. 1 in the ATP rankings or not, Novak Djokovic will always be the No. 1 for rising Italian tennis star Flavio Cobolli. The youngster, who has glimpses of his idol in his own game, shared his desire to interact and practice with the Serbian great at the upcoming Australian Open.

Speaking exclusively to Sportskeeda on the sidelines of the 2023 Tata Open Maharashtra, the 20-year-old spoke about his admiration for Djokovic and adopting a similar playing style to the Serb, being part of an exciting time in Italian tennis, and gaining valuable experience at the ATP level.

After a successful campaign in Pune, Cobolli is now eyeing a valuable experience in Australia. While he is still far from the Australian Open main draw, Cobolli hopes to play some tennis with Djokovic on the training courts.

“For us, it’s important to have Nole in the tour," Cobolli said, when asked about the Serbian great's Australian Open return. "He’s the No. 1 for me, my idol. I hope to see him in Australia and also play some points and some practice there."

Cobolli was one of as many as seven different Italian players to win at least one Challenger Tour event in 2022. With the likes of Jannik Sinner and Matteo Berrettini already making big strides at the highest level, Cobolli is thrilled to be a part of the rise of Italian tennis along with other young guns.

Currently ranked just outside the top 170, the Italian is very keen to gain more experience on the ATP tour like he did in Pune. Coming through the qualifiers, he reached the Round-of-16, going down fighting against 2nd seed Botic van de Zandschulp.

"The Italian Federation worked a lot, so I’m really happy to be part of the team, of the federation in Italy," Cobolli said.

"Now I want to see where I am with the level and I’m happy to be here for this tournament."

Modelling his game on Novak Djokovic, Flavio Cobolli aims to someday reach his idol's level

Flavio Cobolli in action at the Internazionali BNL D'Italia 2022.

A lot about Flavio Cobolli's game and his strengths on the court can remind one of a young Novak Djokovic, be it him favoring a more defensive and counter-attacking approach, his ability to return well, or his fighting abilities on the court. While he undoubtedly has a long way to go to be as effective with that skillset as the 21-time Grand Slam champion is, Cobolli is aiming big.

The Italian spoke about the similarities between his and Djokovic's game and his goal to one day consistently play a similar level of tennis.

"I improved my serve in this pre-season, I have a good return and I’m good at backhand, like Djokovic. I work to be on his level…I hope to have the same level of his," Cobolli expressed.

While time will dictate his ability to fulfill such a big long-term goal, the Florence native is currently focused on his goal for the 2023 season, which is to enter the top 100 and qualify for the main draw of the US Open.

"I want to work a lot this year because I want to be in the Top-100 and play the US Open main draw," the Italian stated.

Cobolli achieved a career-high ranking of No. 133 in July 2022 and won the Zadar Challenger 80 earlier in the season.