Alexander Blockx has reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career after beating Flavio Cobolli at the US Open.
Before the match, the Belgian had said, “Je pense que ce sera une belle revanche”, in reference to his previous meeting with Cobolli, when he had served for the match but failed to close it out. Less than a month later, he got his revenge in impressive fashion.
It did not begin smoothly for Blockx, who struggled early on serve and was broken in his second service game. He recovered to break back at 4-4, but still went on to lose the first-set tie-break 7-6.
That setback did not discourage him. Blockx raised his level dramatically on serve, losing only one point on his own delivery in the second set. Cobolli held on for a long time, but eventually cracked on his sixth break point saved attempt and then on the next one, allowing Blockx to level the match at one set all 6-3.
The end of the second set transformed the match. In the third set, Cobolli won only four points as Blockx powered through to take control against an opponent whose confidence had completely drained away.
Un gros caractère
The pattern then became even more one-sided. Although Blockx dropped a game after winning 10 in a row, Cobolli briefly revived the contest when he found a dip in the Belgian’s service games and called on the crowd for support at 3-3. Pressure returned to Blockx, who had to save a break point at 4-3, but he then benefited from a double fault by his opponent to serve for the match before finishing the job 6-3.
Blockx will now face Francisco Cerúndolo in the last 16, after the Argentine beat Taylor Fritz in five sets.