Tennis: Top seeds struggle at Cincinnati Open

Several top seeds have bowed out early at the Cincinnati Open, with the likes of Grigor Dimitrov, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Elena Rybakina and Coco Gauff falling victim to a round of upsets on Thursday in Ohio.

Fabian Marozsan left Dimitrov shell-shocked with a stunning comeback, before Jack Draper snuck past Tsitsipas in a gruelling three-set battle.

Yulia Putintseva delivered a knockout blow to defending champion Gauff in the women’s draw, while Leylah Fernandez sent Rybakina packing.

Dimitrov’s woes continue, Draper comes back to haunt Tsitsipas

Dimitrov was a -400 favourite in his match against Marozsan, but the Bulgarian showed that he is yet to return to his best following an injury acquired at Wimbledon.

Tennis bookmakers had him slated as a strong contender for the Cincinnati title, given the absence of several top players and the potential fatigue of those who had competed at the Olympics.

Dimitrov, however, could not get the better of his Hungarian opponent, who came back from a set down to qualify for the next round.

Later in the day, Draper and Tsitsipas met for the first time since their 2022 Canadian Open clash in Montreal.

Draper won that initial encounter convincingly, yet the Brit took to the court in Cincinnati as a +160 underdog, with Tsitsipas favoured at -208.33.

The Greek star won the first set comfortably, but Draper fought back to put Tsitsipas’ redemption run to a premature end.

“In general, my grit, my determination and my attitude won me the match today, so I’m very proud of that,” Draper said after the match.

Rybakina shows rust, Gauff slump continues

Rybakina returned to the WTA Tour for the first time after missing the Paris Olympics and the Canadian Open due to acute bronchitis, but her performance against Fernandez showed she is still far away from peak fitness.

She produced 17 double faults during the match, undermining the -303.03 favourite’s label she had going into the tie.

“I think it was an ugly match from the both of us, it clearly wasn’t the best tennis,” Fernandez said after her victory.

“Clearly our service games weren’t going well, too many unforced errors.

“I was just lucky that today I got the good end of the stick.”

Meanwhile, Gauff — who was at +550 to retain her Cincinnati crown — could not overcome world No.34 Putintseva.

“It was not the best match for me, I made a lot of errors, especially when I was up 4-2 (in the third set),” the American said in her post-match interview.

Gauff will now slip to No.3 in the world heading into her US Open title defence.

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