Delray Beach Open Round-up | Ruud returns with a bang while Cobolli inspired by The Hulk enroute to first ATP win since January

Casper Ruud has stepped onto the court for the first time since becoming a father and has managed to get his first win on the board as he progresses in the Delray Beach Open. He fended off Marcos Giron 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-4.

It has been a fantastic start for the Norwegian in 2026, coming home from reaching the last-16 in the Australian Open to welcome his daughter into the world. Tennis has been pushed to one side for a period of time with family becoming the forefront of his attention, but he is ready to get back onto the court.

After originally planning to play in the Davis Cup qualifiers and Dallas Open, he sat them out with the Delray Beach Open his next intended target as he looks to get back up to speed for a hugely significant period in the tennis calendar.

His first task in Florida would be in the form of Giron, who sent Ruud tumbling out of last year's Indian Wells Open in the second round. It looked like fate could possibly repeat itself after he broke the serve in the first set. Ruud had been wasteful in the game before as he let two break opportunities of his own go missing. Just three points were won against the serve for the remaining five games as Giron comfortably saw it out to get a first set on the board.

The American then had the chance to move further clear from the three-time Grand Slam finalist but could not get the job done. The second set remained on serve all the way through to a tense tiebreaker. It was a close affair throughout right until Ruud streaked ahead and created three set points. They were all missed as Giron shut down the gap, but he would not be so lucky when Ruud instantly created another chance to level the match.

In contrast to the prior set, it was Ruud's turn to create some break points, and more ruthless than his opponent he took the second one and was in the lead of this match for the first time since the third game. It stayed the same for the rest of the match as Ruud saw out a hard-fought victory.

Flavio Cobolli's ended an unwanted drought as he clinched just his second ATP victory of 2026 and first since January 4. After what has been a miserable start to the campaign, the Italian powered through to win 7-5, 6-4 against Terence Atmane.

Cobolli originally got the headstart when he raced into a 3-1 lead, but that was deemed pointless when the Frenchman won three games on the spin to take the lead himself while putting the match on serve. Cobolli found a bit of quality at the end to get a three game winning streak of his own which included a very late break to seal the first set in his favour.

He then followed this positive momentum with another break right at the start of the second set. He failed to take three chances two games later to secure a double break advantage, and that could have been crucial later on when Atmane failed to take a single chance which would have brought the scores all level. Cobolli never looked back and finally returned to the winning enclosure. “It’s my first win [for a while], so I’m really happy to be in the middle of the court,” said Cobolli after the match. It was tough, the beginning of the year, but now I’m really happy to be here at this fantastic tournament."

He explained his new Hulk tattoo, inked in the green of the Marvel superhero. He drew inspiration from it on the court to help him get over the line as he explained the backstory. "In Davis Cup [last year], you remember I [ripped] my t-shirt, so now I have Hulk. It’s fresh, like two weeks old. I felt like Hulk on the court [then], so now I have to be like him!”

The other two matches saw closely fought contests ending in straight sets. Qualifier Coleman Wong managed to cause a big upset and take down the seventh seed Brandon Nakashima 6-4, 7-6(4).

The 21-year-old previously defeated Nuno Borges and was determined to continue his positive momentum. He did that by launching himself into a 3-1 lead in the premature stages of the match, offering very little on his serve as he managed to see it out. Both players road their luck in the second set before an inevitable tiebreak was called upon. This was only due to a brace of late breaks as Wong attempted to serve it out. he would not be made to regret this missed chance as he came back from 4-2 down to win five consecutive points and dump out the American to advance into the quarterfinals.

The other match saw Sebastian Korda take down Alex Michelsen 6-3, 7-6 to claim the bragging rights from his American counterpart. Korda confidently strode into a 4-2 lead with a helping hand of a clinical break. He then repeated these actions right at the end to seal the first set.

He instantly snuffed out any danger at the start of the next set, breaking back to level the score at 1-1. He would be forced to repeat that, and he left it quite late. Michelsen failed to clinch three match points in an elongated game with Korda taking his sixth break point to put the score at 5-5. He had to get through another missed set point by his opponent before he himself got the job done. His next task is Ruud in the last-eight with Cobolli and Wong ready to battle it out.