Cincinnati Open—Mason, Ohio
Monfils Upsets Alcaraz in Cincinnati; Swiatek, Zverev Advance
Friday’s schedule at the Cincinnati Open featured a multitude of high level matches.
Rain on Thursday forced an even busier schedule in Mason, Ohio during Friday’s day schedule and the fans were not disappointed.
First up, top seed Iga Swiatek made quick work of her opponent No. 15 seed Marta Kostyuk. Winning by a score of 6-2, 6-2, Swiatek won 71 percent of her first serve points and broke serve on five occasions.
The five-time Major winner will next face No. 5 seed Jasmine Paolini or Mirra Andreeva for a place in the semifinals.
Elsewhere, Elina Avanesyan from Armenia was defeated by No. 10 seed Liudmila Samsonova, 4-6, 6-0, 6-3.
Avanesyan, 21, defeated Bianca Andreescu and No. 8 seed Jelena Ostapenko earlier in the event.
Samsonova will next take on either No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka or Elina Svitolina.
On the men’s side, Alexander Zverev progressed after he defeated Pablo Carreno Busta 7-5, 7-6(6). The German, who made the French Open final earlier this year, faces Ben Shelton or Fabian Marozsan in the quarterfinals.
No. 6 seed Andrey Rublev continued his good form as of late by dismissing Brandon Nakashima 7-6(5), 6-1.
The Russian hit 20 winners and broke his American opponent on two occasions.
Men’s No. 2 seed Carlos Alcaraz was ousted in a rain-delayed encounter with Gael Monfils, losing to the Frenchman 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 .
Shattering his racquet in disgust during the third set, Alcaraz will lose 600 points as a result of his defeat.
Monfils will return later in the day to take on No. 15 seed Holger Rune.
Alcaraz was playing in his first event since the Olympic Games in Paris.
Other results on the day included top seed Jannik Sinner receiving a walkover from Jordan Thompson and Felix Auger-Aliassime defeating No. 7 seed Casper Ruud 6-3, 6-1.
The night session will be highlighted by Frances Tiafoe against Jiri Lehecka.
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