US Open: Bloks and Cerundolo advance as sixth seed Cobolli and Fritz exit in round three

Two notable upsets marked the third round of the US Open as higher-ranked players fell to opponents outside the top 20.

Italy's Flavio Cobolli, currently world number six, lost a five-set battle 7:6, 3:6, 0:6, 3:6 to Belgium's Alexander Blockx, who is ranked 34th but has reached as high as 54th in his career. Cobolli entered the match as a slight favorite but was outplayed in most statistical categories, including points won on first and second serve, total points, and break-point conversion. Blockx now leads their head-to-head series 2-1. This marked Cobolli's fifth consecutive appearance in New York, with the third round representing his best result at the tournament so far.

Meanwhile, American Taylor Fritz, ranked tenth in the world, lost 6:3, 6:4, 3:6, 4:6, 4:6 in a match lasting nearly four hours to Argentina's Francisco Cerundolo, currently ranked 25th with a career-best of 18th. Fritz was a heavy favorite going into the match, and despite leading in total points won and second-serve points, he fell behind in first-serve points and break-point statistics. Cerundolo now leads their career series 2-1. This was Fritz's 13th consecutive year competing at the US Open, with his best result being a runner-up finish in 2024.

This year's round-of-16 finishers will each receive 480,000 US dollars in prize money, while the eventual champion will take home a record 5,500,000 dollars — the largest single prize in the history of tennis tournaments.