Flavio Cobolli Stages a Comeback Fueled by Heart and Determination in Cincinnati: Rafael Jodar Is Forced to Concede Defeat

Flavio Cobolli advanced past the round of 16 at the Cincinnati Open: the Roman tennis player secured his spot in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Masters 1000 by defeating Rafael Jodar, who is right behind him in the rankings, with a score of 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-3, with Cobolli taking the win. He continues his run in Ohio after also defeating Miomir Kecmanovic and Alexander Blockx in earlier rounds.

The match was evenly matched from the very beginning, with Jodar capitalizing on a couple of mistakes by Cobolli to take the first set. The second set was even more closely contested: the Roman took a break lead at 4-3, but the Spaniard fought back to level the set, which went to a tiebreaker. In the tiebreak, Cobolli fell behind 2-1 but then went on a decisive 6-1 run to force a decisive third set.

In the third set, Jodar faltered, and Cobolli capitalized: the only break of the entire set put the Italian up 4-2, and from there, it was all downhill. After defeating an Italian player twice in his last two tournaments (in both cases, it was Lorenzo Musetti—first in Washington and then in Montreal), Jodar must now bow out to a player from Italy: Cobolli remains in contention for the final Masters 1000 tournament before the US Open.