Cobolli F. overturned a poor start to beat Paul T. 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 at Cincinnati. After being outplayed in the opener, Cobolli steadied his return game and took the decisive moments, breaking Paul once in each of the last two sets.
Paul flew out of the blocks, breaking in the first game and again at 5-2 to close the opener 6-2. Cobolli answered in the second set, breaking Paul in game 4 to lead 3-1 and leveling the match at one set apiece. In the decider, Cobolli made the decisive move in game 9, breaking Paul to lead 5-4, then held to close it out.
The stats underline how tight it was: Paul out-aced Cobolli 12-9 and won more total points, 81-78, but Cobolli won all ten first-serve points he played in the third set and faced no break points in the final set, holding firm when it mattered.