Fritz and Cobolli shocked as men's seeds tumble

Taylor Fritz was unable to explain how he let a two-set lead slip against Francisco Cerundolo as he became one of six top-10 seeds to be eliminated from the men’s draw in the first week of the US Open.

The American ninth seed was in complete control and went an early break up in the third set, only for Argentina’s Cerundolo to produce a shock 3-6 4-6 6-3 6-4 6-4 win to reach the fourth round.

Less than an hour later, fifth seed Flavio Cobolli of Italy fell to a 7-6 (7-4) 3-6 0-6 3-6 defeat by Belgium’s Alexander Blockx, opening up the men’s draw even further.

“I don’t even know what to say,” Fritz said. “I don’t really want to talk to anybody, see anybody.

“I need to get out for a couple days and then get back to work. I don’t know how I let that happen today.”

Cerundolo and 28th seed Blockx will now meet in the fourth round with a place in the quarter-finals up for grabs.

This year’s biggest shock at Flushing Meadows was also the first, as Novak Djokovic was beaten by Argentina’s Mariano Navone on the opening day’s play.

Fourth seed Djokovic was eyeing an historic 25th Grand Slam title but was left in tears after a five-set loss to the world number 49.

Next to go was 10th seed Arthur Fils. The Frenchman was another first-round casualty as he went down in four sets against former world number three Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece.

The highest seed ousted thus far is Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime, the third seed, who lost to Karen Khachanov in round two, the same stage at which sixth seed Alex de Minaur was beaten.

Those exits looked to have cleared the way for Fritz and Cobolli to go deep into the tournament, but it was an opportunity neither were able to take.

For Fritz, a finalist at Flushing Meadows in 2024, the frustration is all the greater at his home Slam.

He was bidding to become the fifth American through to the fourth round at this year’s tournament. With no Jannik Sinner to contend with and Carlos Alcaraz only recently returned from a wrist injury, excitement was growing that, 23 years on from Andy Roddick’s US Open triumph, there may finally be another home winner in the men’s singles.

That chance persists – but Fritz will know he has let a golden opportunity slip.

The chance of a maiden Grand Slam title has also escaped Cobolli for another few months after his capitulation against Blockx.

Having edged the first set on a tie-break, the Italian lost his way and after surrendering the third set to love in just 20 minutes, could not recover.

“I think my energy was a little bit lower than the other days,” he said. “I feel a little bit more tight and maybe more tired.”

Cobolli admitted Blockx deserved the win and would support him in the next round.

“Alex is very good guy outside the court. He deserve to win, and he won,” he added.

Defeats for Cobolli and Fritz mean that outside of top seed Alexander Zverev, only two top-20 players remain in the top half of the draw in 14th seed Learner Tien and 17th seed Jakub Mensik – and they play one another on Friday.

It means Zverev could feasibly reach the final without playing a top-10 player and won’t have to face anyone in the top-20 before the semis.

In the men’s doubles, British pair Arthur Fery and Joshua Paris progressed with a 6-4 5-7 6-4 win over Anirudh Chandrasekar of India and Ivan Liutarevich.

Britain’s Neal Skupski and American partner Christian Harrison, the fifth seeds, also advanced as they beat French duo Arthur Reymond and Luca Sanchez 6-0 7-6 (7-3).

But there was disappointment for David Stevenson and Marcus Willis as they lost 5-7 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 to France’s 11th seeds Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul.