US Open Day 5; Two Trends go Head to Head

Our takeaway from Day 5 at the US Open concerns our feature match of the day. If you’ve been keeping up with the happenings at the 2025 Open as discussed here, you’ll recall that two trends have emerged: the “Sinner Effect,” where those with some connection to Italy are well represented both on the court and in the stands; along with the MATGA (Make American Tennis Great Again) movement. Though we had mentioned reluctance to use that acronym again, the simple explanation for its use here is: “If the (tennis) shoe fits…”

As fate would have it, on Day 5 those two trends squared off against one another on Court 17, with the Americans represented by 24-year-old Jensen Brooksby facing off against his opponent from Florence, Italy, 23-year-old Flavio Cobolli. Just their names alone give rise to a clash between America vs. Italy. Going into the match, Cobolli had to be considered a clear favorite: He is the #24 seed here, with solid showings over the last 16 months, including a quarterfinal appearance in the 2024 Delray Beach Open, and making it into the third round of the 2024 US Open and the 2025 Australian Open. He has demonstrated a consistent style of play punctuated by a steady baseline game. In contrast, Brooksby’s style of play is a lot more unorthodox; most shots he plays using a very open-faced approach which can include various herky-jerky movements. It is not a style that we have seen taught to those learning the game — but hey, you get yourself in the top 100, you gotta be doing something right.

Photo credit: pechterphotos.com.

So those were the two contestants, or more appropriately, combatants, who faced off on Court 17, which along with the Grandstand are fan favorites due to the small-enough-to-be-intimate combined with the large-enough-to-get-raucous vibe. The Italian contingent could definitely be heard in the stands, though they were clearly outnumbered for this match by the hometown crowd. All of this came into play in making this match a see-saw affair that was captivating from start to finish.

Brooksby took a close first set, with both players showing the hands they would be playing for the rest of the match. Cobolli was clearly content to stick to the baseline — other than having to run down a drop shot, his movement would primarily be side-to-side. Brooksby displayed a much greater willingness to come up to net, where he proved to be very capable.

Photo credit: pechterphotos.com.

Cobolli had to assume going into the match that if he played his steady style game he would win, and for periods of the match that definitely held true; he took the 2nd and 3rd sets, winning most rallies of more than 5 shots. And there were many such rallies in this match as neither player hit many clear winners.

It was a bit of a surprise to see Brooksby bounce back to win the 4th set in decisive manner. To ever-increasing chants of “USA, USA!” he was able to cut down on mistakes while being more aggressive with his shots. So this one went to a deciding 5th set, complete with the Italian brigade in one corner who pumped up the volume in order to compete with the larger number of pro-USA fans, who were quite boisterous themselves.

Photo credit: pechterphotos.com.

Unforced errors turned up at bad times early in the 5th, with Brooksby quickly down a break. The serve is clearly an area where Brooksby could use some work. It can be an extreme asset in a tight 5-setter to be able to get an easy point here and there. At present, he does not have that in his arsenal, and it led to Cobolli being able to serve for the match at 6-5.

But of course, in an epic such as this, Brooksby was able to turn it up a notch and hit some of his best returns and groundstrokes of the match for a break to send the match into a seemingly inevitable tie-breaker… and the crowd into a frenzy.

Photo credits: pechterphotos.com.

At this point, we wish we could tell you that it was a scintillating 10-point tie-breaker that went to 16-14, but that was not to be the case. But what did take place definitely had merit of its own. Cobolli clearly made the decision that he was going to go for it in the tie-breaker, and he did that with exceptional execution. The good groundstrokes he displayed throughout the match became guided missiles into the back corners of the court. Though it was not the nail-biter finish, it was nonetheless an extremely memorable ending, with Cobolli taking the match via a 10-3 domination of the tie-breaker. The final score: 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (10-3). Again, not a tense ending, but watching a player step up their game like that when they have been on the court for more than 4 hours leaves a lasting impression of its own for Italian and American fans alike.

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Written by Florida Tennis Contributor Todd Pechter. Photo credits: pechterphotos.com.