Flavio Cobolli Overcomes Two-Set Deficit After Outfit Change to Reach US Open Second Round

World No. 5 men's tennis player Flavio Cobolli of Italy narrowly advanced to the second round of the 2026 US Open (total prize money of $10,800) following a grueling full-set match.

Playing on the third day of the tournament at Flushing Meadows in New York, U.S. local time on September 1, Cobolli secured a 3-2 (3-6 2-6 6-3 6-4 6-4) victory over 119th-ranked Francisco Comesana of Argentina after a battle lasting 4 hours and 13 minutes.

This marks the first time that Cobolli, this year's French Open runner-up, has won a five-set match after dropping the first two sets.

Cobolli attributed his comeback victory to changing his clothes after the second set.

"When I went to the bathroom, I decided to change everything," he said. "I changed all the clothes I was wearing, and it worked."

Cobolli nearly became the third major upset victim of the tournament.

Earlier, "legend" Novak Djokovic (ranked 5th, Serbia) and Arthur Fils (ranked 11th, France) were eliminated in the first round.

In the women's singles, Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan (ranked 2nd), this year's Australian Open champion who injured her ankle at the previous tournament, cruised into the second round with a 2-0 (6-3 6-2) win over Thea Frodin (ranked 585th, United States).

Frodin is a player who doubled as a young Serena Williams in tennis scenes for the movie "King Richard," which depicts the father of the tennis legend sisters Serena and Venus Williams.

She made her major singles debut at the age of 17.

Other strong contenders, including this year's French Open women's singles champion Mirra Andreeva (ranked 5th, Russia) and 2024 US Open runner-up Taylor Fritz (ranked 10th, United States), also advanced smoothly to the second round.

Morning matches were delayed consecutively due to rain that began falling the previous night.

Except for the Arthur Ashe Stadium and Louis Armstrong Stadium, which are equipped with roofs, matches could not be held on the outer courts for some time.

(Photo: Getty Images)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.