Taylor Fritz walked into Arthur Ashe Stadium on Saturday looking every inch the man ready to own this US Open draw. Two sets up, a break ahead in the third, the ninth seed cruising in front of a home crowd that has waited more than two decades for another American champion.
And then it all slipped.
Cerundolo turns the tide
Francisco Cerundolo, seemingly buried at 3-6 4-6 and an early break down in the third, refused to go quietly. The Argentine clawed his way back into the contest, first by holding serve, then by tightening the screws on Fritz’s.
The pressure finally told. Fritz’s forehand, so authoritative early on, began to misfire. Cerundolo, sensing doubt, stepped in on returns, dragged the rallies longer, and forced the American to hit one more ball. The match flipped.
From two sets down and a break behind, Cerundolo stormed to a 3-6 4-6 6-3 6-4 6-4 win, turning a routine afternoon into a five-set ambush and booking his place in the fourth round.
Fritz, a finalist at Flushing Meadows in 2024 and one of the main home hopes this fortnight, looked stunned.
"I don't even know what to say," he admitted afterwards. "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."
For a player eyeing a deep run in a wide-open half of the draw, it was a brutal collapse at his home Slam.
Cobolli crumbles, Blockx breaks through
Barely an hour later, another seed followed him out.
Flavio Cobolli, the fifth seed from Italy, had edged a tight first set against Alexander Blockx, snatching the opener 7-6 (7-4). The path seemed clear: manage the Belgian’s power, ride the momentum, move on.
Instead, Cobolli’s game disintegrated.
Blockx, the 28th seed, grew in confidence as Cobolli’s level dropped sharply. After losing the second set 3-6, the Italian imploded in the third, swept 0-6 in just 20 minutes. The energy that had carried him into the tournament’s first week vanished.
"I think my energy was a little bit lower than the other days," Cobolli said. "I feel a little bit more tight and maybe more tired."
He never truly recovered. Blockx kept his foot down, closing out a 7-6 (7-4) 3-6 6-0 6-3 victory that sends him into the fourth round and deepens the sense that this US Open men’s draw is tearing up the script.
Cobolli, whose shot at a maiden Grand Slam title now goes back on ice, was gracious in defeat.
"Alex is very good guy outside the court. He deserved to win, and he won," he said, adding that he would support Blockx in the next round.
Now Blockx and Cerundolo meet with a quarter-final place on the line. It is the kind of matchup no one had circled a week ago.
A draw blown wide open
These upsets did not arrive in isolation. They are part of a pattern that began on day one.
The tournament’s first and biggest shock came when Novak Djokovic, chasing an historic 25th Grand Slam title, was sent out in five sets by Argentina’s Mariano Navone. The fourth seed left the court in tears, his pursuit of history stopped cold by the world number 49.
The dominoes kept falling.
Tenth seed Arthur Fils departed in the opening round, beaten in four sets by former world number three Stefanos Tsitsipas. Third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, Canada’s leading hope, went out in the second round to Karen Khachanov. Sixth seed Alex de Minaur followed at the same stage.
Those exits appeared to clear a golden lane for Fritz and Cobolli in the top half. No Djokovic. No Jannik Sinner. Carlos Alcaraz only just back from a wrist injury. The sense grew that, 23 years after Andy Roddick’s US Open triumph, an American man might finally be ready to lift the trophy again.
That storyline survives, but Fritz will know his own chance vanished in the space of three sets.
Zverev’s path opens up
The cumulative effect of these shocks is stark. With Cobolli and Fritz gone, top seed Alexander Zverev stands almost alone among the favourites in the top half.
Apart from Zverev, only two top-20 players remain there: 14th seed Learner Tien and 17th seed Jakub Mensik. They face each other on Friday, which means one of them will be gone before the second week even settles in.
The numbers tell the story. Zverev could feasibly reach the final without facing a top-10 opponent and will not meet anyone ranked inside the top 20 before the semi-finals. In a Slam that has already shredded expectation, his route now looks unusually clear.
Doubles drama for the Brits
Away from the singles chaos, British interest in the men’s doubles delivered a mixed day.
Arthur Fery and Joshua Paris battled through a tight three-setter, beating Anirudh Chandrasekar and Ivan Liutarevich 6-4 5-7 6-4 to move on. Neal Skupski and his American partner Christian Harrison, the fifth seeds, were far more ruthless, dismantling Arthur Reymond and Luca Sanchez 6-0 7-6 (7-3).
Not everyone advanced. David Stevenson and Marcus Willis pushed 11th seeds Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul hard but fell 5-7 7-6 (7-2) 6-3.
As the first week closes, the men’s draw at Flushing Meadows looks nothing like the pre-tournament bracket. Seeds have scattered, outsiders are sensing their moment, and one question hangs over the top half: with the door this far open, who dares walk through it?
