Day three of main-draw action at the Western & Southern Open started with many upsets and thrilling matches at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Cincinnati.
The first meeting between the top two Japanese players was played today on Grandstand here in Cincinnati. The qualifier, Yoshihito Nishioka defeated the No. 4 seed Kei Nishikori 7-6(2),6-4. With this victory, Nishioka has claimed his first-ever top 10 win.
Top seed and French Open champion Ashleigh Barty defeated the 2011 W&S Open winner Maria Sharapova 6-4,6-1. Barty will face next Estonian Annet Kontaveit in the next round.
Jan-Lennard Struff pulled out the upset of the day by defeating the No. 5 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4,6-7(5),7-6(6). Struff will next face Daniil Medvedev, the Montreal finalist who defeated Benoit Paire in straight sets.
In a thriller, Americans Caty McNally and Alison Risk defeated the pair of Gabriela Dabrowski and Yifan Xu 6-7(5),6-4,17-15. The 17-year-old Ohio native McNally is seeking her second doubles trophy after winning Washington earlier this month with Coco Gauff.
Day three of the action at the Western & Southern Open concluded today with many exhilarating matches.
American Madison Keys defeated Daria Kastakina 6-4,6-1 to make her way to the round of 16. Keys expressed how much she loves being here and how she feels at home in Cincinnati.
“There are so many things I love to do when I'm in town for this event,” she said.
Keys, a quarterfinalist here last year will take on Wimbledon champion Simona Halep on Thursday.
Rising star Miomir Kecmanovic defeated three-time ATP Masters champion Alexander Zverev 6-7(4),6-2,6-4 for his first career Top 10 win of his career.
Japanese star Naomi Osaka defeated Aliaksandra Sasnovich 7-6(3),2-6,6-2. Osaka who just reclaimed the World No. 1 ranking on Monday, could still lose it this week to either Halep or Pliskova. Osaka will play Su-Wei Hsieh in the next round.
To finish the night seed No. 8, Karen Khachanov defeated the Washington champion Nick Kyrgios 6-7(3),7-6(4),6-2. Khachanov who made his first ATP Masters semifinals of the year last week in Montreal is looking for to make another run here in Cincinnati. He faces Lucas Pouille on Thursday.
Thursday's matches will include Venus Williams, Roger Federer, Ashleigh Barty and Novak Djokovic.