US Open shocks continue as Fritz and Cobolli fall to lower-ranked opponents

The US Open has seen a string of shock results in its early rounds, starting on day one when fourth seed Novak Djokovic lost in five sets to Argentina's Mariano Navone, the world number 49. Djokovic, chasing a historic 25th Grand Slam title, was left in tears after the defeat.

More seeded players soon followed. Tenth seed Arthur Fils fell in four sets to Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas, while third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime lost to Karen Khachanov in the second round, the same stage at which sixth seed Alex de Minaur exited.

Those results appeared to open the draw for Taylor Fritz and Flavio Cobolli, but neither capitalised. Fritz, a finalist at Flushing Meadows in 2024, was aiming to become the fifth American to reach the fourth round this year, with Jannik Sinner absent from the tournament and Carlos Alcaraz only recently back from a wrist injury. Instead, his home Slam ended in disappointment.

Cobolli, meanwhile, collapsed against Blockx despite winning the opening set on a tie-break. He lost the third set to love in just 20 minutes and could not recover, later saying he felt more tired and tense than on previous days. He praised his opponent, saying Blockx deserved the win.

With both Fritz and Cobolli out, only top seed Alexander Zverev, plus Learner Tien and Jakub Mensik - who meet each other on Friday - remain among the top 20 seeds in the top half of the draw. That leaves Zverev with a realistic chance of reaching the final without facing a single top-10 opponent before the semi-finals.

In the men's doubles, British pair Arthur Fery and Joshua Paris advanced, as did fifth seeds Neal Skupski and American partner Christian Harrison. However, David Stevenson and Marcus Willis lost to France's 11th seeds Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul.