Cobolli loses to Mannarino in Shanghai, his fourth straight singles defeat

The match

Flavio Cobolli, seeded sixth and ranked seventh in the world, lost his first match at the Shanghai Masters 1000 to Adrian Mannarino, ranked 83rd by the ATP, 6-1 4-6 6-3 in 2 hours and 26 minutes. Adnkronos and ANSA frame the defeat as a second-round exit, because the seeding gave Cobolli direct access to that round. According to Europa Press, Mannarino won the opening set after breaking Cobolli's serve three times. Cobolli answered in the second set with two breaks of his own and took it 6-4, forcing a decider. The third set was decided by a break in the eighth game, and Cobolli had two break points at 15-40 in the final game before Mannarino saved both and closed the match on his second match point.

A run of four defeats

This was Cobolli's fourth consecutive singles loss, following a defeat on his debut in Beijing against Roman Safiullin, a loss to Learner Tien in the Laver Cup, and a third-round exit at the US Open to Alexander Blockx. Fanpage reports that Cobolli conceded five service games and committed 40 unforced errors, 21 of them off the forehand. Europa Press says Mannarino won 64% of his first serves, hit 5 aces and did not double fault. Fanpage also notes that the win was Mannarino's 12th against a top-10 opponent and his first this season against a player inside the top ten.

What it means for Turin

Il Messaggero places Cobolli fifth in the Race to Turin with 3,540 points, while he is seventh in the world ranking. Points from 2025, including the 50 he must defend in Almaty, Vienna and Paris, do not count toward the Race. Jannik Sinner has ended his season early, and the report says the ninth-ranked player in the Race can now qualify for the ATP Finals. Four decisive weeks remain, starting with the Shanghai final on 18 October, which offers up to 1,000 points, followed by the Paris Masters from 2 to 8 November. Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori are described as close to qualifying in doubles.

Other Italians and the draw

Matteo Berrettini, ranked 46th, lost 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 to Brandon Nakashima, ranked 16th, according to Adnkronos. Mediafax reports that Berrettini destroyed his racket out of frustration after the match. Lorenzo Musetti is the only Italian still in the draw, facing China's Zhou. Mannarino's next opponent will be the winner of the match between Karen Khachanov (27th ATP) and Arthur Fery (37th). G4Media also reports that Alexander Zverev beat Wu Yibing, that Ben Shelton, Frances Tiafoe and Alex De Minaur advanced, and that Andrey Rublev lost to a player outside the top 100.

Tournament backdrop

G4Media says the Shanghai Masters runs from 5 to 18 October 2026 and carries prize money of about $9 million. Novak Djokovic, who holds the most titles at the event with four, was due to face Hubert Hurkacz that afternoon. Mediafax reports that Sinner is absent with a knee injury and has not played since his Wimbledon victory in July. With Cobolli and Berrettini eliminated, Musetti remains as Italy's only singles player in the tournament.