Flavio Cobolli has suffered defeat in his first match since the French Open final, losing to Frances Tiafoe in Halle.
Cobolli met Tiafoe in his opening match of the Terra Wortmann Open in Germany, where he is also playing doubles.
The Italian was looking to recover from his French Open final defeat to Alexander Zverev, which took place in Paris earlier this month.
But he couldn’t quite manage that feat against Tiafoe, who beat the sixth seed 6-2, 7-6(7-4) in the first round of the ATP 500 event.
The American has now shared his reaction to his Halle Open triumph over the Italian, which represents his first top 10 win since 2024.
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Frances Tiafoe reacts to Halle Open win vs Flavio Cobolli
Speaking to the ATP website, Tiafoe said of Cobolli: “Obviously, he’s a hell of a player and had a hell of a season.
“But I knew he was coming out for his first match [this year] on grass and you have to find your feet under you, and obviously he’s got to come down to reality after the final.
“That’s never easy, especially on a whole different surface.
“I tried to just come out there flying and make it super tough for him.
“Play real fast and make him feel uncomfortable.
“It was a good day.
“He’s going to be ready to go for Wimbledon.
“He’s a Wimbledon quarter-finalist, so he knows how to play on grass.”
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Top American men start grass swing strongly ahead of Wimbledon
While Cobolli was making his first grass court appearance of the season, Tiafoe was able to find his feet at the Stuttgart Open.
The American defeated Daniel Altmaier and Rinky Hijikata before losing his quarterfinal clash with Jiri Lehecka.
Lehecka then lost his semifinal with another American, Ben Shelton, who clinched the trophy in Stuttgart with a win over compatriot Taylor Fritz.
It has, therefore, been a fine start to the grass-court swing for the top American men, who will be desperate to continue their momentum into Wimbledon.
| 5 | Ben Shelton | ||||||
| 9 | Taylor Fritz | ||||||
| 19 | Learner Tien | ||||||
| 26 | Frances Tiafoe | ||||||
| 28 | Tommy Paul | ||||||
| 32 | Brandon Nakashima | ||||||
| 38 | Alex Michelsen | ||||||
| 60 | Sebastian Korda | ||||||
| 66 | Ethan Quinn | ||||||
| 68 | Aleksandar Kovacevic | ||||||
But ending the lengthy major title drought has proven extremely difficult in recent times, even with concerns over leading duo Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.
Remarkably, and hugely disappointing for the nation, Andy Roddick remains the last American man to win a major thanks to his 2003 US Open success.
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