GRASScaraz
Hall of Fame
How many times does this guy lose in the first round of a HC tournament to a mug?
Why is Cobolli such a weak hard court player?
- Thread starter GRASScaraz
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lurker2025
Hall of Fame
He has an atp 500 on hard court but he is inconsistent. He is basically a worse version of Ruud who is also inconsistent on hard courts but Ruud notched 3 big finals on hard courts in 2022. His main strenghts are his forehand and his movement but on hard courts the speed of the groundstrokes is faster and he has less time to run around his backhand. His serve is also inconsistent and having a good serve is a massive help on hard courts.
I think consistency is probably the biggest issue. Cobolli has shown he can play well on hard courts, but he hasn't been able to maintain that level from tournament to tournament. When his forehand is firing, he can trouble almost anyone, but if his first serve percentage drops or he's forced into backhand exchanges, his level can dip pretty quickly. He still seems more comfortable constructing points on clay, where he has a bit more time. On hard courts, small lapses get punished much faster, which may explain some of those early-round losses. It feels more like an inconsistency problem than a lack of ability.
helterskelter
G.O.A.T.
He also once lost the final of Washington, D.C. on hard courts. But I get the question. On clay, he's obviously solid: RG runner-up, won two titles, including Hamburg, lost the Munich final (as well as RG). On grass, he has back-to-back Wimbledon QFs. But he has never made a slam R4 on hard courts. Your explanation is solid - I personally don't see him as playing as much like Ruud as you do, though.
Dominic & Andrey
Legend
Because Cobolli is one of the weakest top 10 players of all time. Decent peak level, mid to very weak floor.
lurker2025
Hall of Fame
Their strong points are their forehand and their athleticism, Cobolli moves better but Ruud has better shot quality metrics.
lurker2025
Hall of Fame
He could get into the top 4 to top 7 this year if he strings some decent performances on hard courts, he will be overranked if he reaches the top 5 but I do not think he is that bad.
Moose Malloy
G.O.A.T.
Cobolli has lost in the first round in 8 of the 17 events he's played so far this year. Geez, those are some Kafelnikov like numbers.
Aussie Darcy
Bionic Poster
Dudes only had 2.5 years on the main tour. His first slam (outside of the French where he was a junior champ) was the 2024 Aus Open. We’ve just had 2026 Wimbledon and he’s already made a slam final.
Maybe give him a bit. It took Zverev 6 years on tour to make a slam final. Cobolli already did it.
Maybe give him a bit. It took Zverev 6 years on tour to make a slam final. Cobolli already did it.
Aussie Darcy
Bionic Poster
“He’s never made a slam 4R on hard courts”.
He’s played 5 hard court slam main draws in his entire career lmao. Do you realize how insane that sounds? Dude is still so new.
Just for comparison, Zverev played 8 before he made his first hard court 4R.
gamelovergold
Hall of Fame
Cobolli this year massively overacheived by reaching FO final.
Did pretty well in WIM before hitting wall against that british guy.
He has to improve on his hard court performance to stay in top 10. .
Did pretty well in WIM before hitting wall against that british guy.
He has to improve on his hard court performance to stay in top 10. .
lurker2025
Hall of Fame
For this year he will most likely stay in top ten and might improve on his best ranking but he needs to improve on hard courts moving forward
gamelovergold
Hall of Fame
He has to hang in there at top 10 . I still think he is not top 10 material.
FO finals pushed his ranking to orbit.
lurker2025
Hall of Fame
He definitely is not worse than some of the weak top ten players there have been this decade. So far he is like a worse version of Ruud.
gamelovergold
Hall of Fame
Not saying worst or best but his FO exploits really helped him reaching top 10 spot.
Now big thing is to hold on there by giving good performances.
Gastino
Hall of Fame
He's pretty much guaranteed to make Turin this year with the points he racket if you look at the race
helterskelter
G.O.A.T.
Okay - I should have said "not yet." It was just meant to be a comparison with his record at Wimbledon (two QFs) and Roland Garros (one final), not to other players.
lurker2025
Hall of Fame
He is pretty much a worse version of Ruud as of now and many people have long wondered whether Ruud was top ten material even if he was in the top ten for 3 years and half and was worlf number 2
ghostofMecir
Legend
Nothing all that unusual when looking at the wide scope of all players. Hanfmann has been playing decently well. Masters’ first rounds always wind up having multiple lower ranked players winning, and overall, many of these matches are 52-48 type at best with razor thin margins. The consistency of the Big3+Murray+SinnerCraz has warped people’s views. There’s nothing in Cobolli’s game that would make him a big favorite vs. Hanfmann; I think he started as -175 or so, so a solid favorite, but nothing earth shattering that he lost.
Last edited:
Shield
Semi-Pro
Agreed. Hanfmann has actually had a good year. I hope he can win a title eventually. As far as Cobolli, he has a good game and is very athletic, but he can be inconsistent as others have said. I think that will improve over time.
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