Cobolli fights back past Jodar to reach maiden hard-court Masters quarter-final

Flavio Cobolli produced exactly the kind of resilient performance that has been missing from his recent weeks, rallying from a set down to beat fellow young gun Rafael Jodar 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-3 on Wednesday evening and reach the quarter-finals of the Cincinnati Open.

Cobolli will face the winner of the meeting between top seed Alexander Zverev and No 18 seed Tommy Paul.

It is a milestone for the Italian: his first quarter-final in Cincinnati, and his first Masters 1000 last eight on a hard court (his second at this level overall). The turning point came in the second-set tiebreak, where the No 7 seed finally locked in, taking it 7-3 and never looking back as he pulled clear in the decider. It was his 30th win of 2026, and he now chases a first Masters 1000 semi-final.

The victory is all the sweeter given how Cobolli’s season has swung between extremes. A Roland-Garros finalist earlier this year, the world No 10 has also been prone to jarring early exits – he was the first seed out in Montreal just days ago, beaten in his opening match. This, then, was the flip side of that inconsistency: a gritty, three-set grind against one of the summer’s breakout names, exactly when his big-event pedigree was being questioned.

For Jodar, the defeat ends another eye-catching run. The 19-year-old Spaniard, who had impressed all summer, beat Alejandro Tabilo and edged Denis Shapovalov here.

Cincinnati Masters 1000, round of 16

• A. Zverev (1) vs T. Paul (18)
• F. Cobolli (7) d. R. Jodar (12): 4-6, 7-6, 6-3
• T. Tirante vs Mensik (14)
• A. Fils (21) vs A. de Minaur (5) 
• T. Fritz (6) vs C. O’Connell
• N. Borges vs B. Nakashima (27)
• J. Faria vs L. Musetti (10)
• F. Tiafoe (17) vs F. Auger-Aliassime (2)