After a nervy start Alexander Blockx moves a gear up and joins the exclusive club of Belgian players who made it to the first round of the US Open
When Alexander Blockx started the match serving two double faults, someone may have doubted that he would succeed in emulating the feats of his fellow countrymen David Goffin, Xavier Malisse and Olivier Rochus.
Yet, it is not be forgotten that not only has the 21-year-old Belgian been one of the young players in the spotlight over the past months, but just nineteen days ago he was ever so close to beating Flavio Cobolli on a hard court in the third round of the Cincinnati Open in a rollercoaster match he lost 57 64 57.
Today it was still Cobolli who struck first, breaking in the third game with a whizzing return which caught Blockx by surprise.
With his explosive footwork allowing him to hammer forehands from all over the court and displaying a fancy and multi-angled array of shots, Cobolli seemed to be in control but in the seventh game he unexpectedly stumbled.
Three unforced errors off his forehand and a missed volley allowed Blocks to break back.
Neither player set up further chances to break and the set was to be decided by a tiebreak.
After trading a minibreak each, serving at 4-5 Blockx ventured out on a tentative serve and volley and conceded two set points. Cobolli converted the second, stylishly closing the set off with a drop volley.
The second set went neatly with serve in the first four games.
Blockx had 3 break points in the fifth but Cobolli held.
However the Belgian had moved in closer to the baseline and was starting to put more pressure with his groundstrokes, taking over the rallies. His first serve percentage were on the rise as well.
He earned breakpoints also in the seventh game and the third one did the job.
Cobolli appeared unsettled and Blockx raced away not only to pocket the set with a second break but to build a 3-game lead in the third.
Had the Italian run out of steam? Suddenly his moving appeared slackened and his power muffled. The set slipped away in 20 minutes. The last point was emblematic of the players’ mood: Cobolli tentatively followed a second serve to the net and Blocks fired a winning passing shot past him down the line. The score read 60. Cobolli had won only 4 or the 28 points.
The Italian took a toilet break and as it often happens, back on court he appeared somewhat energized and determined to put up a battle.
He saved a break point in his first service game by raiding the net and stopped the 11-game haemorrhage with a scorching backhand down the line.
Blockx was unfazed and finished off the next game with the very same shot to lead 21.
When Cobolli surrendered his next service with a double fault the match seemed to have taken its final twist but Blockx faltered and with poor service game allowed Cobolli to storm back to 2-3
The sixth game was a battle with the Italian saving two break points and once more getting the upper hand in the rallies and drawing even at 3-3.
Cobolli was now fighting for every point and living up to the gladiator reputation he’s credited with. The rallies’ intensity was at its peak.
In the seventh game Blockx rose to 3 break points . Cobolli saved two but then double-faulted, his kick serve letting him down once more.
Blocks serving for the match was impeccable: first serve winner, ace, first serve followed by a crosscourt forehand winner, ace.
“I think it was one of the craziest experiences so far of my career.” Alexander Blockx said in the post-match interview.
“After the first set I just told myself to keep calm. I wasn’t playing bad, I think I was playing great tennis.
I know deep inside I’m a fighter to the last ball and it paid off today.”
In the round of sixteen he will be up against Franscisco Cerundulo, an unexpected winner of home favourite Taylor Fritz.
