Taylor Fritz Stunned in US Open Upset by Francisco Cerundolo
Taylor Fritz walked off Arthur Ashe Stadium staring at the court as if it had betrayed him. Two sets up, a break ahead in the third, the American with the booming serve and the home crowd at his back looked to be strolling into the second week of the US Open.
He never got there.
Instead, Francisco Cerundolo tore up the script, dragged the match into deep water and left Fritz wrecked in five sets, 3-6 4-6 6-3 6-4 6-4, on a day when the men’s draw cracked wide open yet again.
“I don’t even know what to say,” Fritz admitted afterwards, the shock still raw. “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.”
From cruise control to collapse
For two sets, Fritz looked every inch the contender New York had been waiting for. The ninth seed bullied Cerundolo from the baseline, broke early in the third, and had the feel of a man who knew this court, this moment, this Slam.
Then the match turned.
Cerundolo dug in, found heavier length, and began to drag Fritz into longer exchanges. The American’s first-serve percentage dipped, the errors crept in, and the tension in the stadium shifted almost imperceptibly at first, then unmistakably. The Argentine took the third. Then the fourth. By the time the fifth set began, Fritz’s lead felt like ancient history.
Cerundolo kept coming, holding his nerve where the favourite could not. One by one, Fritz’s chances slipped away, until the final forehand missed and Cerundolo had completed the upset to reach the fourth round.
For Fritz, a finalist at Flushing Meadows in 2024, the sting will cut deeper than most losses. This is his home Slam, his best surface, his best chance. With the draw stripped of giants, this was supposed to be the year he pushed through the ceiling.
Instead, he joins the exodus.
Seeds tumble, draw explodes
Less than an hour after Fritz’s exit, another heavyweight fell. Flavio Cobolli, the fifth seed and one of the season’s rising names, lost his grip on a match he had in his hands and crashed out 7-6 (7-4) 3-6 0-6 3-6 to Belgium’s Alexander Blockx.
Cobolli had edged a tight opening set on a tie-break and looked poised to steady himself after dropping the second. Then came the collapse. The third set disappeared in 20 brutal minutes, a 6-0 hammering that left the Italian staring at the scoreboard in disbelief. He never truly recovered.
“I think my energy was a little bit lower than the other days,” he said. “I feel a little bit more tight and maybe more tired.” He didn’t hide from the result either. “Alex is very good guy outside the court. He deserved to win, and he won.”
Cerundolo and 28th seed Blockx will now meet in the fourth round with a place in the quarter-finals at stake – a pairing almost nobody had pencilled in when the draw came out.
This is what the top half has become: opportunity everywhere, certainty nowhere.
Djokovic’s tears set the tone
The chaos started on day one and never really stopped.
Novak Djokovic, the man chasing history, went out first. The fourth seed arrived in New York hunting a record 25th Grand Slam title. He left in tears, stunned by Argentina’s Mariano Navone in a five-set epic that detonated the top of the draw before the tournament had even settled into its rhythm.
Next to fall was 10th seed Arthur Fils, tipped by many as a dark horse. The Frenchman lasted only four sets in round one against former world number three Stefanos Tsitsipas, who reminded everyone he still has the weapons to wreck a seed’s fortnight.
Then came the bigger blows. Third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, the highest-ranked casualty so far, went out in round two to Karen Khachanov. Sixth seed Alex de Minaur followed him through the exit door at the same stage.
Those results seemed to carve out a golden lane for Fritz and Cobolli. No Jannik Sinner in the field. Carlos Alcaraz only just back from a wrist injury and still feeling his way into form. Twenty-three years since Andy Roddick’s US Open title, American fans could see a path, a real one, to a home men’s singles champion.
That dream is not dead. But Fritz, the man many had circled, will know he let a rare chance slip.
Zverev’s route clears
The ripple effect of all this carnage is stark.
With Cobolli and Fritz both gone, top seed Alexander Zverev stands almost alone in the top half of the draw. Apart from him, only two top-20 players remain there: 14th seed Learner Tien and 17th seed Jakub Mensik. They face each other on Friday, guaranteeing that one of them will be out before the second week truly takes shape.
The numbers tell the story. Zverev could, in theory, reach the final without facing a single top-10 opponent and will not meet anyone ranked in the top 20 before the semi-finals. For a man still chasing his first major, the window has rarely looked wider.
Doubles joy and heartbreak for the Brits
While the singles draw shredded reputations, the British doubles contingent split their fortunes.
Arthur Fery and Joshua Paris battled through a tight three-setter, edging Anirudh Chandrasekar and Ivan Liutarevich 6-4 5-7 6-4 to move on. Neal Skupski, alongside American partner Christian Harrison and seeded fifth, made lighter work of their assignment, dismantling Arthur Reymond and Luca Sanchez 6-0 7-6 (7-3).
Not everyone escaped. David Stevenson and Marcus Willis pushed hard but bowed out 5-7 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 to the 11th seeds from France, Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul.
On a day of swings and shocks, that felt fitting.
In New York, the men’s draw now looks nothing like the one that was printed. The favourites are gone, the path is jagged, and the door is wide open. Someone is going to walk through it. The only certainty is that it will not be Taylor Fritz.
