The last big tournament before the 2024 US Open, the 2024 Cincinnati Open, kicked off this week. Half of the first round matches in the men’s and women’s singles draw have been played, and several major stars have already been shown the exit door.
Defending men’s champion Novak Djokovic is not competing at the Masters 1000 tournament this year. Meanwhile, women’s champion Coco Gauff is yet to play her first round match. Other big-name players—like Elina Svitolina, Ben Shelton and Lorenzo Musetti—have kicked off their campaigns on a positive note. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for others.
Four most shocking results from Day 2 of the 2024 Cincinnati Ope
4. Ugo Humbert
French No. 1 Ugo Humbert’s struggles on the ATP Tour continued at the 2024 Cincinnati Open, where he endured another first round exit. Humbert became France’s highest-ranked player in the first half of 2024 after winning two titles, but his form has since fallen off a cliff. The 26-year-old is still high enough on the ATP ranking to earn the 13th seeding in Cincinnati and began his campaign against Jordan Thompson on Day 2 of the tournament.
The Frenchman took the early advantage by breaking his Australian opponent midway through the first set and holding his serve. Thompson equalized the scoreline thanks to a solitary break of Humbert’s serve in the second set. The deciding set went into a tiebreak, and the Australian just managed to eke out a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4) victory.
3. Donna Vekic
Donna Vekic came to the 2024 Cincinnati Open with sky-high confidence after winning the women’s singles silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. However, the transition from Parisian clay to American hard court proved difficult for the Croatian athlete as she endured an upset loss in her first round contest at the WTA 1000 tournament against qualifier Ashlyn Krueger.
Vekic, the No. 16 seed, made the first move in the contest by breaking Krueger twice to take the one set advantage. However, the talented American, who defeated Naomi Osaka in her qualifying round, was not ready to go down without a fight and forced a deciding set after taking the second set through a tiebreaker. Krueger then switched gears in the third set to break Vekic twice and record an upset victory: 5-7, 7-6 (4), 6-2.
2. Tommy Paul
Even though Tommy Paul played his first round match at the 2024 Cincinnati Open on Day 1, his defeat was too big of an upset to not be included in this list. Paul, currently the highest-ranked American in the ATP Ranking, came to Cincinnati after a bruising second-round loss in Montreal. He was seeded 10th at the Cincinnati Open and faced Flavio Cobolli in the first round.
Cobolli raced past Paul in the first set to take the valuable lead. However, Paul came into the match in the second set by breaking Cobolli twice and was on the verge of victory in the third set. The American had three match points in the 10th game of the deciding set but failed to convert any.
Cobolli made most of Paul’s slip-ups by breaking his serve in the next game. The talented Italian then wrapped up the victory (6-2, 4-6, 7-5) on his serve, and inflicted more misery on Paul ahead of the US Open.
1. Taylor Fritz
From American No. 1 to American No. 2, Taylor Fritz also bowed out of the 2024 Cincinnati Open in the first round. Fritz, the No. 11 seed, was up against compatriot Brandon Nakashima, a wildcard, in the first round at the Masters 1000 tournament on August 13.
Nakashima gained the one set advantage by breaking Fritz’s twice, only for the latter to level the scoreline in the second set. Both men stepped up their level in the third set and forced a tiebreaker to decide the contest. Nakashima was the better performer of the two in the deciding tiebreaker and emerged victorious: 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (4).