Cobolli Completes US Open Comeback

Flavio Cobolli beat Francisco Comesana 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in the first round of the 2026 US Open on Tuesday at Louis Armstrong Stadium. The No. 5 seed needed 4 hours and 12 minutes, then dropped to his knees under a roof closed by rain.

He had trailed by two sets at a Grand Slam eight times and lost every one. This was the ninth. AP called it his first career two-set comeback. Comesana, ranked No. 119, had the first two sets in 88 minutes. Then the Italian changed his clothes and the match turned into a fifth set.

Two sets down, then a bathroom break

Cobolli was spraying balls early. He said he went to the toilet after the second set and decided the outfit was unlucky. "So I changed all the dress that I started with today and it works," he told AP. "In Grand Slams it's never done. You have to fight until the last point."

He fought off two break points early in the third and broke with a heavy forehand for 3-1. He saved all eight break points he faced in that set, including two in the last game, and took it 6-3. In the fourth he jumped to 4-0 and served it out 6-4 with his fourth ace out wide after 3 hours and 13 minutes.

How the fifth set finished

Comesana broke early in the fifth. Cobolli broke back, then broke again for 5-4 with a forehand return down the middle. Serving for the match he double-faulted to 15-40. He saved both break points and closed it with a wide serve and a forehand drive volley. He cupped a hand to his ear. Armstrong was full. The roof was shut. He had finally answered the question.

Comesana was hunting a third top-10 win and a second at a major, after beating Andrey Rublev at Wimbledon in 2024. He hit more aces. He still walked off two sets up and one comeback short.

What is next for Cobolli?

The winner between American qualifier Nishesh Basavareddy and Australian qualifier Tristan Schoolkate is next. This is Cobolli's third US Open main draw, and he has reached the second round in all three. The win was his 32nd of 2026, a year that already had a Roland-Garros final loss to Alexander Zverev and a Cincinnati semifinal loss to Arthur Fils.

He is a French Open runner-up who refused to join Fils on the first-round upset list. Djokovic is already out. Sinner never made the draw. Cobolli was two sets from joining them. He did not. He changed shirts, played two more hours, and finally won a Slam match from a hole he had never climbed out of.