Flavio Cobolli saved three match points and rallied to defeat 13th-ranked Tommy Paul on Monday to advance at the ATP and WTA Cincinnati Open.
The 22-year-old Italian upset the American 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 in the first match at the US Open tuneup event, which gets underway with its first full schedule on Tuesday, a change made due to the Paris Olympics.
Cobolli denied Paul on break chances to claim the match and held in the 10th game, then broke Paul and served out to reach the second round after two hours and six minutes.
Paul became the highest-ranked player Cobolli has ever beaten after having downed 14th-ranked Ben Shelton of the United States on the way to his first ATP final two weeks ago at Washington.
The Italian, who hit 25 winners past Paul, improved to 30th in world rankings.
Cobolli’s next opponent will be either countryman Luciano Darderi or Alejandro Tabilo of Chile.
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