US Open: What a disappointment for Flavio Cobolli—a historic result slips away at the very last moment

Flavio Cobolli is left with nothing but regret at the conclusion of the mixed doubles at the U.S. Open, which serves as a warm-up for the main tournaments at Flushing Meadows: The Roman tennis player, paired with Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic, lost in the final to the Czech duo of Karolina Muchova and Jakub Mensik, who thus claimed the first of the trophies up for grabs in the season’s final Grand Slam tournament.

The final score was 6-3, 1-6, 10-6, with the decisive super tiebreak going to Muchova and Mensik. Thus, the historic milestone of a first Grand Slam title slipped away for both Cobolli and Bencic; instead, the feat was achieved by the two Czech players, who had never before—until tonight—won a title, in singles or doubles, at one of the most important tournaments on the international tennis calendar.

Karolina Muchova and Jakub Mensik thus succeed Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori in the competition’s roll of honor, who had won the mixed doubles tournament in 2024 and 2025. This year, however, the Italian pair was eliminated in the first round, losing in a super tiebreak to Mirra Andreeva and Andrey Rublev.

Just as in 2025, the mixed doubles tournament in 2026 was also held in a condensed format, designed to include more than just doubles specialists. In this edition, among other things, Carlos Alcaraz returned to the court; after months on the sidelines due to a wrist injury, he teamed up with Serena Williams, advancing past the first round against Erin Routliffe and Lloyd Glasspool but falling just short against Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli.