Key events
With humidity levels of 90% plus, the conditions are brutal, even with the roof on, and Comesana is already dripping so much he looks as if he’s deep into a fifth set. “I never sweated at all,” declares the Federer-like Navratilova on the commentary, “it was just my DNA.” Cobolli, meanwhile, is made to sweat as he’s pulled back from 40-0 to deuce – the Italian’s main strength, his forehand, isn’t fully firing yet – and Comesana breaks for 2-0! Having been 0-40 down in the opening game. It’s been a strange start.
The first victory of the day goes to Comesana, who wins the toss and elects to serve first. It’s an inauspicious start, though, as he drops 0-30 down and then 0-40 when he slices a backhand into the net. Comesana, sporting a retro headband, saves the first break point with a charge forward before scrambling to deuce, but it’s a scrappy opening game, to be honest, and Cobolli soon has a fourth break point … it’s surely his for the taking as he does all the hard work … but he then blasts a forehand into the net! An improvised drop shot volley from Cobolli can’t stop Comesana from moving to game point, and the Argentinian escapes with the hold for 1-0.
Here come Cobolli and Comesana, with the Louis Armstrong roof keeping out the rain and ramping up the atmosphere. While it’s been a breakout summer for Cobolli, having reached the French Open final and Wimbledon last eight, Comesana’s had a rough 2026, winning only seven matches all year. Cobolli’s flashy, shotmaking game will likely be too much for the world No 119 from Buenos Aires today, but the Italian does have a point to prove at the US Open, having never been beyond the third round.
Away from Arthur Ashe and Louis Armstrong, it’s been confirmed that play won’t start until at least midday New York time/5pm BST.
And what of the day three energy levels on the Sky Sports team? Martina Navratilova and Tim Henman are in good spirits (Martina especially because she’s the only Sky pundit who can boast that all of her title picks are still standing), but Laura Robson is feeling rather sweaty in the humid, heavy conditions, with rain forecast today. And right on cue … it starts raining. Gah. Play may not be starting on time on most of the courts now, though the roofs on Arthur Ashe and Louis Armstrong mean that Madison Keys v Alina Korneeva is guaranteed to get under way in half an hour, and Flavio Cobolli will be on court very shortly against Argentina’s Francisco Comesana.
Order of play – day session
11am start (4pm BST) unless stated
Arthur Ashe Stadium 11.30am New York/4.30pm BST
Madison Keys (USA, 22) v Alina Korneeva
Taylor Fritz (USA, 9) v Darwin Blanch (USA)
Louis Armstrong Stadium
Flavio Cobolli (It, 5) v Francisco Comesana (Arg)
Mirra Andreeva (5) v Janice Tjen (Ina)
Grandstand
Elena Rybakina (Kaz, 2) v Thea Frodin (USA)
Arthur Fery (GB) v Lorenzo Musetti (It, 13)
Iva Jovic (USA, 4) v Magdalena Frech (Pol)
Alex de Minaur (Aus, 6) v Andrea Guerrieri (It)
Stadium 17
Yulia Putintseva (Kaz) v Belinda Bencic (Sui, 12)
Daria Kasatkina (Aus) v Paula Badosa (Sp)
Rafael Jodar (Sp, 12) v Thanasi Kokkinakis (Aus)
Marcos Giron (USA) v Ignacio Buse (Per, 32)
Court 5
Filip Misolic (Aut) v Francisco Cerundolo (Arg, 24)
Anastasia Potapova (Aut, 24) v Darja Semenistaja (Lat)
Kaitlin Quevedo (Sp) v Elise Mertens (Bel, 23)
Jan Choinski (GB) v Botic van de Zandschulp (Ned)
Court 6
Gabriela Knutson (Cze) v Eva Łys (Ger)
Lucie Havlíčkova (Lze) v Anna Bondar (Hun)
Juan Manuel Cerundolo (Arg) v Arthur Gea (Fr)
Magda Linette (Pol) v Fran Jones (GB)
Court 7
Dane Sweeny (Aus) v Corentin Moutet (Fr)
Darja Vidmanova (Cze) v Jessica Bouzas Maneiro (Sp)
Arantxa Rus (Ned) v Leolia Jeanjean (Fr)
Court 10
Mattia Bellucci (It) v Zsombor Piros (Hun)
Jesper de Jong (Ned) v Francesco Passaro (It)
Nikola Bartunkova (Cze) v Mayar Sherif (Egy)
Court 11
Nishesh Basavareddy (USA) v Tristan Schoolmate (Aus)
Tatjana Maria (Ger) v Jelena Ostapenko (Lat, 30)
Fabian Marozsan (Hun) v Michael Zheng (USA)
Court 12
Maria Sakkari (Gre, 32) v Robin Montgomery (USA)
Zizou Bergs (Bel, 31) v Carlos Taberner (Sp)
Zachary Svajda (USA) v Daniel Altmaier (Ger)
Oleksandra Oliynykova (Ukr) v Reese Brantmeier (USA)
Court 13
Yulia Starodubtseva (Ukr) v Ella Seidel (Ger)
Camilo Ugo Carabelli (Arg) v Jan-Lennard Struff (Ger)
Alex Molcan (Svk) v Benjamin Bonzi (Fr)
Preamble
Hello, hello! Full disclaimer: this is my first day back after nearly three weeks on holiday and I’ve also spent the past three hours trying and completely failing to install some computer updates. So it may take a bit of time before I’m firing on all cylinders. Though Madison Keys, Flavio Cobolli and Elena Rybakina will be hoping for far smoother starts, as they get the action under way on the main courts on this third and final day of the first round, with Mirra Andreeva, Taylor Fritz and Alex de Minaur to follow later in the day session, along with the British trio of Arthur Fery, Jan Choinski and Fran Jones. Coco Gauff, Alexander Zverev, Gael Monfils and Alexandra Eala, meanwhile, play in the evening session* as Monfils – after Stan Wawrinka’s emotional goodbye yesterday – begins his final grand slam on his 40th birthday. Allez Gael! Two send-offs in two days would be too much to handle.
* By which point I estimate there’s a 0.03% chance of me figuring out how to resolve my IT issues
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