Cincinnati (Tennis news): In Men’s Singles, Reily Opelka failed to advance to the round of 16 as Casper Ruud emerged winner in a three set battle which involved two tie breaks in the Cincinnati Masters 1000. It took two hours and 25 minutes for Casper to record his 100th career win and even bageled the 6 foot 11 inch American. In the first set, there was nothing to separate the two as a tie break saw Opelka marching ahead and in the second set Casper was unstoppable as his opponent could not win a single game. With one set a piece, the decisive set was bound to test them both as Casper finally won the match with a tiebreak. Andy Murray will have to wait for a third title here as he was beaten by Hubert Hurkacz 7-6(7-4), 6-3 in the round of 32.
Jannik Sinner fell to John Isner in the round of 32, Sinner started well by taking the first set 7-5 but Isner fought back in the next set by winning the tiebreak 7-4. In the third set, Isner took off well and continued the rhythm to win the match. Gael Monfils became the 11th active player to secure 500 career wins as he sprinted past Alex de Minaur with a 6-3, 7-5 victory. He is second to Richard Gasquet in most career wins by a Frenchman in the tour and will be facing hard hitter Andrey Rublev in round of 16. Daniil Medvedev will be facing Grigor Dimitrov for a place in the quarterfinal as both the players secured straight set victories over Mackenzie McDonald and Alexander Bublik respectively. The pair has met thrice with Medvedev coming out on top on the last two occasions.
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In Women’s Singles, Simona Halep had to issue a walkover to Jessica Pegula as she suffered a leg injury in the previous round. She hopes to be fit for the US Open which starts in 11 days. Garbiñe Muguruza advanced to the round of 16 as she swept past Caroline Garcia while conceding just seven games. She will be up against Barbora Krejčíková for a place in the quarterfinals, Belinda Bencic beat Shelby Rogers in straight sets, the first set was settled by a tiebreak and the second was lopsided as Bencic won 6-1 to set up a match against Karolína Muchová in round of 16. Paula Badosa continued her fightback as she beat third seed Aryna Sabalenka in a two hour three set encounter. Sabalenka took the first set 7-5 but Paula came back strong in the second set by taking it 6-2. The third set finally saw Paula reaching the finishing line and setting up a clash against Elena Rybakina. Ons Jabeur defeated Iga Swiatek in an hour and eighteen minutes, she had beaten Swiatek in Wimbledon and dominated her opponent with a 6-3, 6-3 victory as she will next face Petra Kvitova.
In Men’s Doubles,Hubert Hurkacz and Jannik Sinner beat Dan Evans and Neal Skupski 6-3, 3-6, 10-3 to proceed into the round of 16. Horacio Zeballos and Marcel Granollers had to struggle a bit as they overcame Andrey Rublev and Karen Khachanov 7-6(9-7), 7-5 as they advanced into the quarterfinals. Joining them will be the pair of Fabio Fognini and Marcelo Arévalo who beat Kevin Krawietz and Horia Tecău. They had lost the first 6-3 but finished strong as they took the next two sets 7-5, 10-7.
In Women’s Doubles, Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Iga Świątek went through to the quarterfinals as they emerged victorious against Darija Jurak and Andreja Klepač in a three set encounter. The first set saw them losing 5-7, but then the two renaming sets saw them finishing on top. Zhang Shuai and Samantha Stosur recorded a win against Bernarda Pera and Magda Linette to enter the round of 16 where they will be up against Květa Peschke and Ellen Perez.
