If one didn't know who was the higher-ranked player when watching the first-round match at the 2026 US Open between Flavio Cobolli and Francisco Comesana, they likely would not have thought that player was the former early in the match. Cobolli was continuously putting himself in bad situations, giving too many free points to the Argentinian.
The Italian can be a fiery player, taking out his anger on himself and his racket as much as on anyone else. Sometimes that kind of rage can be hurtful. What was surprising was that Cobolli wasn't playing with much anger while losing. He appeared defeated by his own form more than by how well Comesana was playing.
In the first set alone, Cobolli had four winners but 14 unforced errors. In set two, he had five and eight, respectively. Not surprisingly, he won only five games in those sets, dropping them 6-3, 6-2, and had this been a non-major, the ATP No. 6 would have been done. Instead, this was the US Open and a best-of-five-set match.
Flavio Cobolli rises from the dead in the first round of the US Open
Instead, while the Italian had never come from two sets down at a major, he had a chance to do so. While Comesana is a solid player, it wasn't as if Cobolli, a rising star, was facing Carlos Alcaraz or Alexander Zverev. Cobolli had a good chance of coming back if he just stopped hitting so many unforced errors.
In the third set, even though Comesana had several break opportunities, Cobolli kept grinding through and got his own break in the fourth game. If he could just hold serve, he would force a fourth set and force the Argentinian to ask himself the question of how much he truly believed he could beat the Italian. Cobolli did what he needed to do and took the set 6-3.
The fourth set wasn't only close, but might have made tennis fans completely forget about the first two sets. Comesana was the one suddenly struggling, and Cobolli had mastered his serves and groundstrokes. He devastated any hopes Comesana had of winning the match in four sets early, and then compounded that. Before he knew it, the Argentinian was behind 0-4.
Comesana did fight back but still couldn't even the set. Cobolli forced a fifth by taking set four 6-4.
The fifth set was simply a wonderful slugfest for fans to watch, though it likely took a brutal toll physically on the players. Each kept holding, and Cobolli increased the speed on his forehand, punishing Conesana. Yet, the Argentine kept finding ways to play exceedingly brilliant defensive tennis and staying in points others might not be able to do.
Finally, at 4-all, Cobolli got a break, helped by forehand winners that he wasn't hitting earlier in the match. All he needed to do was hold serve to move into the second round and get some needed rest.
The game at 5-4 wasn't easy, however. He had a double fault and fell to 15-40. Yet, like nearly everything in this match, what might be assumed wasn't. The Italian fought back and had match point, and hit one of his best serves in the match to take the final set 6-4. For the first time in his career, he had come back from two sets down to win a match.
Flavio Cobolli will next face the winner of the match featuring Nishesh Basavareddy and Tristan Schoolkate. The winner of that match will probably take on Alexander Blockx in the third round of the 2026 US Open.
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