'I almost s*** my pants' - Flavio Cobolli 'still nervous' after reaching French Open quarter-finals after incident-packed victory

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Flavio Cobolli, the No. 10 seed at the French Open, gave an expletive-laden speech after edging a nervy tie-break to beat Zachary Svajda in four sets.

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Cobolli is into the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam for only the second time in his career, having also reached the last eight at Wimbledon last year.

He staved off a late Svajda fightback to win 6-2 6-3 6-7 (3) 7-6 (5) on Monday in a fourth-round Roland-Garros clash full of incident.

Speaking on court following the victory, Cobolli confessed his relief during an amusing speech.

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"The only thing I understood today is the match is never done," he said. "I almost s*** my pants!

"I’m happy, but I’m still nervous, and I have to recover a bit now. I always say this is my favourite Grand Slam, I love to play on clay, I love to play in France. The crowd is unbelievable.

"You guys helped me a lot today to finish the match, it was really important for the next round."

Cobolli also pointed his gratitude towards his coaching box.

"I also want to say thanks to my team, I think someone also s*** their pants. It’s an honour to play another match here."

Cobolli set his stall out early with a couple of dominant sets which saw him unbroken - offering up only three break-point opportunities in his eight service games.

The Italian also provoked applause from the crowd on Court Philippe-Chatrier for reasons other than his impressive shot-making.

He helped to clean off Svajda with a bottle of water after the American was sent tumbling into the umpire's chair and the clay when looking to latch on to Cobolli's shot, which was played with a thin angle.

'He's a little dazed' - Poor ball kid gets clobbered by wild shot from Svajda

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In a match filled with drama, a ball kid also received the full impact of a Svajda backhand, the unseeded star immediately apologising, before he appeared to launch a comeback charge.

His first break of Cobolli's serve was clinched to love, and after the Italian immediately hit back, they went all the way to a tie-break which Svajda astutely claimed with two decisive mini-breaks.

Cobolli appeared to be steamrollering his way to the fourth set, and victory, when he took a double-break advantage to lead 4-0.

But a spirited charge from Svajda saw him come back and fight off a match point to level at 5-5, forcing yet another tie-break.

'Oh my goodness!' - Watch heartwarming moment Cobolli helps Svajda after nasty fall

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And in one of the points of the match, Cobolli's astute defence saw him reply to Svajda's two overhead smashes at the net, before a cross-court forehand forced his underdog opponent to bundle into the net.

Speaking on court, Cobolli sent his well-wishes to compatriots Matteo Berrettini and Matteo Arnaldi, who are also bidding for a place in the quarter-finals.

The trio serve as strong Italian representation in a wide-open men's draw, in which Jannik Sinner is a surprise absence following his shock second-round defeat to Juan Manuel Cerundolo.

Cobolli will face either Felix Auger-Aliassime or Alejandro Tabilo in the quarter-final.

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