Jannik Sinner demonstrated at the Cincinnati Open that he's in good shape for the US Open. The Italian world number one convincingly defeated Frances Tiafoe, who surprisingly emerged as the other finalist in his home country, 7-6, 6-2. At the Cincinnati Masters women's tournament, the title went to Aryna Sabalenka. The Belarusian defeated Jessica Pegula, who had already won the Toronto tournament a week earlier and now also reached the final. Sabalenka, the third-seeded player at the Cincinnati Open, won the final in just over an hour with a score of 6-3, 7-5.
Griekspoor fails early
For the only Dutchman competing in the Cincinnati Masters, the tournament ended quickly. Tallon Griekspoor lost in the first round to American Alex Michelsen. Griekspoor fought back well after a weak first set, but couldn't maintain that level of play in the third. Flavio Cobolli surprisingly proved too strong for Tommy Paul, and Sebastian Korda, who had won the Washington tournament a few weeks earlier, also fell in the first round. The same was true for Alexei Popyrin. The Australian, who pulled off a shock win at the Toronto Open shortly before the Cincinnati Masters , lost to Frenchman Gael Monfils.
Anyone who thought Monfils had exhausted his potential with this victory was disappointed. In the second round, he pulled off the biggest upset of the tournament by defeating Carlos Alcaraz . After a grueling two-and-a-half-hour match, the Frenchman emerged victorious. The second round proved to be a pitfall for many top players at the Cincinnati tennis tournament. Grigor Dimitrov lost to Fabian Marozsan, Stefanos Tsitsipas lost to Jack Draper, and, to top it all off, Jiri Lehecka proved too strong for Daniil Medvedev .
End of tournament for Gauff and Rybakina
The second round also proved to be a difficult one for many top women. Coco Gauff, the second seed in Cincinnati, lost to Yulia Putintseva, and fourth-seeded Elena Rybakina fell short against Leylah Fernandez. The tournament also ended early for Elena Ostapenko. The Latvian, who won the first set comfortably (6-2), then suffered a heavy defeat against Elina Avanesyan. Other top players in the draw, such as Sabalenka, Mirra Andreeva, Jasmine Paolini, and of course Iga Swiatek, advanced to the next round without too many problems.
The third round, or the round of 16, offered few surprises for both the men's and women's tournaments. Sinner had a breeze after Jordan Thompson retired, and the likes of Andrey Rublev, Alexander Zverev, and Ben Shelton dispatched their opponents in straight sets. For Monfils, the round of 16 proved to be the final stop. He won the first set against Holger Rune, but then had to concede defeat to the young Dane. Draper, Tiafoe, and Hubert Hurkacz also advanced to the quarterfinals, while the women's tournament already featured a real cracker, the match between Andreeva and Paolini. Andreeva triumphed in three sets.
Exciting three-setters
The quarterfinals of the Cincinnati Open saw a series of thrilling matches. Both the match between Sinner and Rublev and that between Zverev and Shelton went to long three-setters, with Sinner and Zverev ultimately prevailing. On the other side of the draw, Rune convincingly defeated Draper, while Hurkacz was forced to retire against Tiafoe. In the women's event, Sabalenka and Światek defeated Liudmila Samsonova and Andreeva, respectively. Paula Badosa won her match against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, and the duel between Pegula and Fernandez also turned into a true three-hour thriller, ultimately won by Pegula.
This meant the men's semifinals were Sinner-Zverev and Tiafoe-Rune, while the women's matches were Sabalenka-Swiatek and Badosa-Pegula. The match between Zverev and Sinner proved to be the most exciting, and it also took over three hours for the Italian to win. In the final, he faced the surprisingly strong Tiafoe, who lost the first set to Rune but then fought back to secure a spot in the final. In the women's event, Sabalenka managed to eliminate the top-seeded Swiatek, while Pegula prevailed in her match against Badosa.
Victories for Sinner and Sabalenka
Tiafoe held his own against Sinner in the first set of the final, but saw the young Italian slightly outperform him in the tiebreak. The second set then unfolded quickly: Sinner quickly made two breaks, and on the fourth match point, he managed to win the ATP Cincinnati for the first time in his career. As mentioned, the women's title went to Sabalenka. It was also her first time winning the Cincinnati Masters. Pegula struggled for a long time, but ultimately had to surrender 6-3/7-5.
Winners Cincinnati Open 2024
Men's singles: Jannik Sinner
Women's singles: Aryna Sabalenka
Men's doubles: Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic
Women's doubles: Asia Muhammad and Erin Routliffe
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