ATP Tour

Tiafoe brings Cobolli back ‘down to reality’ with Halle R1 win

Frances Tiafoe kick-started his debut at the Terra Wortmann Open in style on Monday evening in Halle, where the American downed the in-form Flavio Cobolli in an absorbing first-round clash.

The No. 26 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, Tiafoe prevailed 6-2, 7-6(4) against Roland Garros finalist and World No. 10 Cobolli to improve to 13-0 in opening rounds this season. With his 85-minute triumph against Cobolli, Tiafoe also registered his first Top-10 victory since 2024.

“Obviously, he’s a hell of a player and had a hell of a season,” Tiafoe told ATPTour.com in Halle. “But I knew he was coming out for his first match [this year] on grass and you have to find your feet under you, and obviously he’s got to come down to reality after the final. That’s never easy, especially on a whole different surface.

“I tried to just come out there flying and make it super tough for him. Play real fast and make him feel uncomfortable. It was a good day. He’s going to be ready to go for Wimbledon. He’s a Wimbledon quarter-finalist, so he knows how to play on grass.”

Tiafoe broke in Cobolli’s opening two service games inside heristo-arena and later recovered from an early mini-break deficit to clinch the second-set tie-break and the match. The 28-year-old won 81 per cent (34/42) of points behind his first serve and did not face a break point, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

Tiafoe now leads Cobolli 4-1 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series, having also won their most recent meeting prior to Halle in Indian Wells in March. Awaiting the American in the second round in Halle will be Tallon Griekspoor or Sho Shimabukuro.

Felix Auger-Aliassime also advanced on the German grass on Monday, although the second seed was taken the distance by Nuno Borges in his first-round match. The 2021 Halle semi-finalist Auger-Aliassime pulled away for a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win to become the fifth man to earn 25 tour-level wins this season. The Canadian will play Learner Tien next, after the American lefty opened the day’s play with a 6-2, 6-4 victory against #NextGenATP wild card Max Schoenhaus.

Daniel Altmaier enjoyed a long sought-after taste of victory in his opening match. The 27-year-old earned his first grass-court win at an ATP Tour event on home soil by downing Nikoloz Basilashvili 7-5, 6-4. Altmaier, who was 0-6 in his career across Halle and Stuttgart prior to Monday, will next try and book a quarter-final spot by downing eighth seed Andrey Rublev or former champion Hubert Hurkacz.

In the other first-round match played Monday, Terence Atmane edged #NextGenATP Martin Landaluce 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(2). Frenchman Atmane will play fourth seed Daniil Medvedev or Tomas Martin Etcheverry next.