Cincinnati (AFP) – Roland Garros finalist Flavio Cobolli labored for two and a half hours to engineer a turnaround, finally overhauling red-hot Spaniard Rafael Jodar 4-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 to reach the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Masters quarter-finals. Cobolli advanced before rain halted afternoon play, with top-seeded French Open champion Alexander Zverev having taken the first set against American Tommy Paul.
Cobolli has won all three of his matches in Cincinnati in three sets. The durable Italian’s victory prevented 19-year-old Jodar from reaching an eighth quarter-final in nine events. Cobolli is into his second Masters-level quarter-final this season after Madrid. Seventh-seeded Cobolli fought through to level at a set apiece and broke Jodar for 4-2 in the third. He sent down a winning smash on his second match point three games later. The pair combined for nearly 100 unforced errors in the big-hitting battle.
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“At the end of the second set and start of the third I told myself to believe, try on every point,” Cobolli said. “I knew I had a chance. Rafa has had an unbelievable season, but maybe he was a bit tired. At the end, I deserved to win as I was fresher than him. I pushed to my limit to get through. Sometimes I have to remind myself that I’m really strong.”
Thiago Tirante, who upset Novak Djokovic in the second round, continued his surprise run at the last big event prior to the August 30 start of the US Open. He recovered to defeat Jakub Mensik 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 and booked his first Masters quarter-final. The South American ranked 50th won his eighth match of the season over a top 20 opponent.
Cincinnati women’s defending champion Iga Swiatek needed four match points to get past Diane Parry of France 6-3, 6-3. Victory handed the seventh-seeded Pole her fourth consecutive quarter-final in Cincy and her 30th at the 1000 level. Swiatek was broken as she served for victory, leading a set and 5-2 but missing her first chance to close it out. It took three additional chances in the next game to break Parry, who hit the next with a backhand to lose in 88 minutes.
“I was solid, even if I had to put more energy into my shots since she was hitting so much slice,” said six-time Grand Slam winner Swiatek, who captured her first title of 2026 at last week’s Toronto Masters. “I played well from beginning to end. My focus is on the match and not the statistics.”
– Pegula battles through –
Third seed Jessica Pegula was made to work hard after failing to serve out a quick win, fighting through to join Swiatek as a winner with a 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 defeat of Romanian Sorana Cirstea. Cirstea is playing her 22nd year on the Tour and showed a veteran’s poise as she forced Pegula to battle for every point in windy conditions. The third set was a back-and-forth of service breaks and missed opportunities before Pegula put the win to bed after just over two hours.
“It was really tough,” Pegula said. “I was up a set and whatever, but I had the feeling that she might loosen and raise her level. There was lots of wind in the third set and she was returning well. I got a bit tentative on volleys and overheads. But I did a good job at the end to push and be as aggressive as possible – and it worked.”
Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk rallied from a set down to beat fifth seed and reigning French Open winner Mirra Andreeva 4-6, 6-0, 6-2.
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