Flavio Cobolli defeats Frances Tiafoe for Acapulco crown to join Alcaraz & Sinner in this feat… | ATP tour | Tennis

Acapulco

Cobolli defeats Tiafoe for Acapulco crown, joins Alcaraz & Sinner in this feat…

The Italian is on course for a new career high in Monday’s PIF ATP rankings
March 1, 2026

Flavio Cobolli captured his first hard-court ATP Tour title and third overall on Saturday during HSBC’s presentation of Abierto Mexicano Telcel. The Italian was seeded fifth in Acapulco and produced a high standard to beat Frances Tiafoe 7-6(4), 6-4 in the championship match.

Cobolli bombarded his forehand with pinpoint accuracy and showed off his shooting ability throughout the clash. Thanks to his title run, Cobolli will rise to career No. 15 in Monday’s PIF ATP rankings.

“When I was a kid, I dreamed of this moment,” Cobolli said. “For this kind of tournament, playing on center court and people cheering me on. I’m very proud, not only for me, but also for the people who work for me: my father, my family, the rest of my team. They will help me a lot.”

The 23-year-old is the fourth man born in the 2000s to win ATP 500 titles on multiple surfaces, joining Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Arthur Fils.

Despite going into the final winless against Tiafoe in their previous two Lexus ATP Head2Head meetings, Cobolli showed no signs of wavering. Shortly after dropping a set point on the return at 5-4 in the opener, he trailed by 1/3 in the tiebreak, but won six of the last seven points to take a one-set lead.

Tiafoe didn’t get a break until the eighth game of the second set and used his third chance of that game to make it 4-4. It offered a glimpse of hope for Tiafoe, who dramatically recorded multiple wins this week and saved two match points to defeat Aleksandar Kovacevic in the second round. Tiafoe also needed a heroic effort in the semifinals to defeat Brandon Nakashima, who served for a straight sets victory before the eighth seed launched his comeback.

Such theatrical performances would not appear in the final. Cobolli held his nerve after dropping serve, earning a breakback and successfully serving out the match after two hours and nine minutes.

“I think I deserve it because of the way I work off the court,” Cobolli said. “After the losses I am working on the field again and I just want to say that I am very proud of myself. It was a great match today, I think it was the best of the tournament for me. I have never won against [Frances] before today, so I’m very happy.”

Last year, Cobolli won the ATP 250 event in Bucharest and the ATP 500 tournament in Hamburg. He is the youngest Acapulco champion since 22-year-old Dominic Thiem in 2016.