Cobolli Rallies From 2 Sets Down at US Open

Flavio Cobolli beat Francisco Comesana 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in about four hours and 12 minutes under a closed roof at Louis Armstrong Stadium, then dropped to his knees. It was the No. 5 seed's first career Grand Slam comeback from two sets down after going 0-8 in his first eight tries, per Tennis Majors. The ninth attempt finally stuck on a night rain forced the roof closed and the crowd stayed loud through every flip.

Comesana had the better of the first two sets and was hunting a third top-10 win after beating Andrey Rublev at Wimbledon in 2024 on his major debut. Cobolli had to invent a third-set answer he had never found at a Grand Slam before.

The toilet reset

Deadspin/Field Level Media quoted Cobolli saying he went to the toilets after two sets and "changed everything." "It's never done, you have to fight until the last point," he said, thanking his team for the comeback. He lost serve four times in the first two sets and put only 54 percent of first serves in play, then staved off all eight break points he faced in the third set and raced to 4-0 in the fourth.

Comesana led 2-0 in the fifth before Cobolli broke back at love. The set reached 4-all, Cobolli found another break in the ninth game, and he closed it with a mid-court forehand volley in four hours, 13 minutes in that wrap. He cupped a hand to his ear after the kneel.

What the season already asked

The win was Cobolli's 32nd of 2026 in a year that already includes a Roland-Garros final loss to Alexander Zverev and a Cincinnati semifinal. His ranking has climbed from around No. 22 to about No. 6 since the start of the year, per Deadspin/FLM. Next is the winner between American qualifier Nishesh Basavareddy and Australian qualifier Tristan Schoolkate. It is his third US Open main draw and his third straight Round 2 appearance.

Armstrong had already been a house of five-set traffic this fortnight. Cobolli turned his into the rare kind that rewrites a career ledger, not just a first-round box score. Comesana forced every bit of that fight. Cobolli finally answered it.

Elsewhere on the board, Alexander Zverev survived five sets and Lorenzo Musetti beat Arthur Fery. Cobolli's night was longer and louder: nine tries from two sets down, one breakthrough, and a kneel under the Armstrong roof.