NEW YORK (AP) — Flavio Cobolli rallied from two sets down to win his first-round match at the U.S. Open on Tuesday, avoiding another early upset on the men's side.
The No. 5 seed and French Open runner-up beat Francisco Comesana 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4, finishing his match that lasted 4 hours, 12 minutes not long after some sun had broken through the clouds and allowed play to start on all the outside courts after a morning of rain.
Cobolli made his
first career two-set comeback to avoid joining No. 4 seed Novak Djokovic and No. 10 Arthur Fils among early losers in a men's draw that was already missing top-ranked Jannik Sinner, Cobolli's fellow Italian who was unable to play in the tournament because of a right knee injury.
He said he took a bathroom break after the second set and decided to change everything.
“So I changed all the dress that I started with today and it works,” Cobolli said. “In Grand Slams it’s never done. You have to fight until the last point.”
No. 9 seed Taylor Fritz, the 2024 runner-up, rolled to a 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 victory over 18-year-old fellow American Darwin Blanch.
Madison Keys was the only other player to move into the second round early in a tournament where rain threatened to hamper the schedule for a couple days.
Showers that began Monday night and would possibly be on and off through the middle of the week delayed play on all the outer courts, allowing for action only in Arthur Ashe Stadium and Louis Armstrong Stadium, which have retractable roofs.
Keys, the No. 22 seed, beat 19-year-old Alina Korneeva 7-5, 6-4 in the leadoff match in Ashe. The 2017 U.S. Open runner-up was knocked off in the first round last year in Flushing Meadows.
“It’s always tough playing someone young and up and coming, and they’re going after their shots,” Keys said. “And it’s so hard to play a first round of a Grand Slam, so nervous and just wanting to do so well. So, really happy I was able to kind of fight through that and win today.”
Play finally began outdoors in the middle of the afternoon. Among those who finally got going were No. 2 seed Elena Rybakina, No. 12 Belinda Bencic and No. 32 Maria Sakkari.
Rybakina has multiple routes to the No. 1 ranking at the U.S. Open. She was facing American Thea Frodin, a 17-year-old from California who was the body double for actor Demi Singleton, who played Serena Williams, in the 2021 film “King Richard.”
Coco Gauff, the 2023 U.S. Open champion, No. 17 Alex Eala, and men’s No. 1 seed Alexander Zverev were scheduled at night on the third and last day of the first round.
Keys was broken when serving for the match with a 5-3 lead but recovered to break back in the next game and finish up the match.
The American lost to Sloane Stephens in the 2017 U.S. Open final and returned to Flushing Meadows last year after winning the first major title of her career by beating No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the Australian Open final. But what started out as a great year fell flat at the finish after Keys was stunned by Renata Zarazua of Mexico in the first round of last year's U.S. Open after committing 89 unforced errors.
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