Flavio Cobolli revealed he is suffering from stomach issues after crashing out of the Australian Open on Sunday.
The Italian 20th seed became the first high-profile name to exit this year’s tournament after falling 7-6(1), 6-4, 6-1, to world No.186 Arthur Fery. Cobolli, who reached the quarter-finals of Wimbledon last year, was far from his best on court as he hit 38 unforced errors compared to 20 winners. Furthermore, he won just 11 out of 33 points behind his second serve.
Throughout the match, Cobolli showed signs of experiencing stomach problems and swiftly left the court for a toilet break after the opening set. It is the second year in a row he has lost in the first round of the Australian Open.
“Yesterday I was fine, I trained well and slept well. Today I woke up with a stomach problem, you can imagine which one,” Cobolli said afterwards.
“I didn’t vomit, but I lost a lot of fluids and suffered for the whole first set with my stomach. I couldn’t help it, it’s something you can’t control. I thought I could get better game after game, but now I’m even worse.
“Everything was under control until half an hour before the game, I also warmed up well. As soon as I entered the field (court) I started to feel severe pain and I had to go to the bathroom, but the rules do not allow it. I tried to resist, I took a lot of pills to try to block the whole flow, but they didn’t work right away.
“When I finally went to the bathroom, I was a little better at first, but then the pills took effect, I lost a lot of fluids and my energy collapsed.
“There was also a bit of nervousness because I didn’t want it to go like this.”
Cobolli’s misfortunes shouldn’t take anything away from the performance of Fery, who surged through three qualifying rounds without dropping a set to seal his place in the main draw for the first time. Playing in the main draw of a major outside of Wimbledon for the first time, he produced tennis at a level higher than his current ranking.
“It seems I like drawing 20th seeds at Grand Slams,” joked Fery, who also beat 20th seed Alexi Popyrin at Wimbledon last year.
“I love playing on big courts and big stages.”
The latest victory is only 23-year-old Fery’s third Tour-level win and his second over a top 50 player. He is a former college player at Stanford University, where he attended between 2020 and 2024 before turning professional full-time. His mother, Olivia, has previously worked as a business development manager for the Lawn Tennis Association. Meanwhile, his father, Loic, is the owner of Ligue 1 football club Lorient.
Despite his relative inexperience on the Tour, Fery believes he has the game to keep up with his rivals in Melbourne Park.
“I just feel really confident. I feel I don’t have to overplay to play with guys like that,” he explained.
“With Prizmic in quallies and Cobolli today, I felt like I was really fine to stick from the back (of the court) with them. I feel like I’m able to reproduce that level.”
Awaiting Fery in the second round will be Argentina’s Thomas Etcheverry, who ousted Miomir Kecmanović 6-2, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, after nearly four hours of play.
