Belgium’s Alexander Blockx and Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo shrugged off early deficits to knock out top-10 seeds during U.S. Open third-round action on Saturday in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.
Cerundolo dropped the first two sets to No. 9 seed Taylor Fritz before rallying for a 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 triumph in Arthur Ashe Stadium. While most of the statistics and percentages favored Fritz, Cerundolo earned one more break than the 2024 U.S. Open finalist.
“Taylor is a top player,” Cerundolo said during his on-court interview. “He played the final here and won a lot of matches. I know how difficult it is to play against him. Winning here, my first time on Ashe, it’s fantastic.”
Cerundolo, the No. 24 seed, moves on to a fourth-round showdown with No. 28 seed Blockx, who had an easier time shocking No. 5 seed Flavio Cobolli of Italy. Blockx piled up 17 aces to just five for Cobolli to win 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-0, 6-3 in two hours, 44 minutes. Cobolli, the 2026 French Open runner-up, had defeated Blockx two weeks earlier in Cincinnati.
“I think this was one of the craziest experiences so far in my career,” said the 21-year-old Blockx.
No. 21 seed Luciano Darderi of Italy advanced to the fourth round with a 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 win over Australia’s Dane Sweeny. Karen Khachanov, who knocked out No. 3 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime in the second round, handled France’s Benjamin Bonzi 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.
–Field Level Media
