Flavio, weakened by pain, loses to the Brit in three sets: “I took a lot of pills, but it wasn’t enough.” Paolini beats Sasnovich and advances to the second round. Ball boy faints from the heat

Flavio Cobolli, ravaged by a stomach virus, was eliminated in three sets by British qualifier Arthur Fery 7-6 (1) 6-4 6-1 in two hours and 12 minutes, in his Australian Open debut. Fery is a good player and certainly a tough opponent in the first round, but well within the reach of the tournament’s No. 20 seed if he were in normal physical condition—but unfortunately, Flavio was not today, a victim of a sudden bout of enteritis that left him unable to move. After Berrettini, therefore, Italy loses another key player. Cobolli tried several times during the match to turn the game around, with Fery practically always ahead and the Roman chasing. The first set featured four breaks, with the Brit breaking his opponent’s serve first and having the chance to serve for the set at 5-4, but Flavio broke back to love and then saved another break point in the next game to force a tiebreak. Unfortunately, he played terribly and lost it 1-0. In the second set, Fery broke the Roman’s serve at 2-1, and Cobolli immediately responded by breaking back the next game, but at 5-4 on his own serve, Cobolli lost his serve again and with it the set. The match ended there, with the Brit racing to a 4-1 lead in the decisive set and Cobolli running increasingly out of energy to react, eventually losing 6-1. “I’ve been feeling fine these past few days,” he said, drained of energy after the match. “And I even woke up feeling good this morning. Then, as soon as I stepped onto the court, I started having severe pain and stomach issues. I took some pills, lots of pills, but it wasn’t enough. I’d lost a lot of fluids and my energy level was at rock bottom. Now I hope to have a decent flight home; once I get to Munich, I’ll take a couple of days to recover physically and mentally, and then I’ll think about America. I’ll play in Dallas and Delray Beach.”

No such problems, however, for the other Italian on the court, seventh seed Jasmine Paolini, who easily dominated qualifier Sasnovich of Belarus, defeating her 6-1, 6-2 in one hour and seven minutes. It was a one-sided match, with Jasmine immediately taking a decisive 5-0 lead for a clean 6-1 win in the first set. It was almost the same story in the second set, with Paolini maintaining a pace that was simply too high for her opponent, who even saved three match points at 1-5, before finally succumbing to Jasmine for a 6-2 finish.

ONWARD ZVEREV—  The 2025 finalist, world No. 3 Alexander Zverev, also took the court last night. The German, coming off a less-than-stellar stretch, faced a few too many challenges to get the better of Canadian Diallo, especially in the first set, which he lost in a tiebreak. Then Zverev managed to reset and won easily with a score of 6-7 (1), 6-1, 6-4, 6-2. Of note was a ball girl fainting from the heat during the women’s match between Sonmez and Alexandrova. Zeynep immediately went over to help her and escorted her off the court.

Too bad, Venus!—  Venus Williams was truly on the verge of pulling off the upset of the day—and more. The 45-year-old former world No. 1 gave 25-year-old Olga Danilovic, born in 2001, a run for her money. Danilovic is one of 112 players in the draw who wasn’t even born yet when Venus played her first WTA match. The Serbian won in three sets (6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4), but Williams had actually taken a 4-0 lead in the third set before the daughter of the legendary Pedrag staged a furious comeback, winning six games in a row to clinch the match. Truly moving, Venus—certainly not a model of mobility on the court, but certainly a model of class: seeing how, in the first set, she moved her opponent from one side to the other from a stationary position, just like in the good old days.

Leave a Reply