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In a battle of former Western & Southern Open champions, it was Alexander Zverev who roused his best level Tuesday in Cincinnati.

The 16th-seeded German downed Grigor Dimitrov 6-2, 6-2 to extend his winning streak at the ATP Masters 1000 in Ohio to six matches. Zverev needed little time to reacquaint himself with the centre court at the Lindner Family Tennis Center on his first appearance there since his 2021 title run, converting four of eight break points he earned against Dimitrov for a 72-minute win.

It was Zverev’s first hard-court win against a Top 20 opponent in four attempts this season. His reward for downing the World No. 19 Dimitrov, who won the title in Cincinnati in 2017, is a second-round encounter with Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka.

More to follow…

Three years ago, Emil Ruusuvuori played in his first ATP Masters 1000 event at the Western & Southern Open, which was held in New York that year because of the Covid-19 pandemic. In just his third ATP Tour main draw, the Finn was facing American Sebastian Korda. After leading by a set and a break late in the second set, Ruusuvuori found himself in trouble in the decider.

But in a flash the Helsinki native won 20 of the final 22 points to secure the biggest win of his career and guarantee his place in the Top 100 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

“That was an epic match and it was actually the match that made me go to the Top 100, so it was also a big match, big win for me coming 5-2 down in the third,” Ruusuvuori told ATPTour.com. “I believe I won like 15 points in a row or something. We both have come a long way from there.”

On Monday, Ruusuvuori was again playing in the Western & Southern Open, this time in its traditional home of Cincinnati. The Finn cruised to a 6-4, 6-2 win over Corentin Moutet to set a second-round clash with Monte-Carlo champion Andrey Rublev.

When Ruusuvuori first broke through at the tournament, he was brand new on the scene. Now he is a well-established star who reached a career-high World No. 37 earlier this year. It has been a long journey since he moved his training base to the now-closed Jarkko Nieminen Tennis Academy in Helsinki as a 14-year-old. His longtime coach, Federico Ricci, was director of the academy.

Taylor Fritz came through a thrilling 19-minute tie-break on Tuesday at the Western & Southern Open en route to a 7-6(14), 6-2 first-round victory against Czech Jiri Lehecka in Cincinnati.

The American saved five set points in the first-set tie-break before he was gifted the set on his seventh opportunity when Lehecka double faulted. After winning the tie-break 16/14, Fritz dropped just one of his 13 first-serve points in the second set to triumph after one hour and 44 minutes in hot and lively conditions.

"It was probably as hard as I had, just putting the ball into court," Fritz said when asked about the fast conditions. "The courts are fast and bouncy... everything wants to fly and on top of that, everything is super windy. I was just trying to put the ball in court.

"I just had to feel it out at the beginning. As much as I wanted to pull the trigger on big points, if it is not there, it is not there, so you have to do what you feel comfortable and hit the ball you feel you can make under pressure."

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After Jannik Sinner won his opening match last week in Toronto against Matteo Berrettini, he was happy with more than just his performance in the match. The Italian was pleased with his form overall.

“My confidence level from last year has increased,” Sinner told ATPTour.com at the time. “I feel much better on the court, more comfortable.”

That became clear when the 21-year-old ended the week by lifting his first ATP Masters 1000 trophy. Sinner lost just one set en route to the biggest title of his career.

It was a week in which nearly everything went well. As top seeds Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev suffered quarter-final upsets, Sinner weathered a Gael Monfils storm in the last eight and did not find himself in trouble the rest of the week.

“When you go through tough moments throughout the whole week and you're able to manage them in the best possible way,” Sinner said. “I think that's the best feeling.”

Andy Murray withdrew from the Western & Southern Open late Monday night due to an abdominal strain.

The former World No. 1, who last week withdrew ahead of his third-round match in Toronto against Jannik Sinner because of the same injury, will not take the court against 11th seed Karen Khachanov. He will be replaced in the draw by a lucky loser on Tuesday.

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The 36-year-old showed his fighting spirit in Canada when he won a two-hour, 47-minute battle in the second round against Max Purcell. After withdrawing at that event, he travelled to Cincinnati, but is not ready to compete.

Murray is the No. 36 player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings and owns a 12-11 record this season.

American singles stars Christopher Eubanks and Ben Shelton joined forces on the doubles court Monday in Cincinnati and found immediate success against Belgian duo Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen 7-5, 6-4.

Eubanks and Shelton fired six aces and saved the lone break point they faced as they defeated the Roland Garros finalists, who are on track to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals.

Nikola Mektic and John Peers rallied from a set down to defeat American duo Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow 3-6, 7-6(6), 10-3.

Stan Wawrinka is spotting Brandon Nakashima 16 years in age but is just one game away from victory over the former Next Gen ATP Finals champion in the first round of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati.

The 38-year-old former three-time major champion was leading the 22-year-old American 6-3, 6-7(5), 5-2 when play was suspended due to rain around 7.50pm. Wawrinka, who received on-court treatment to his lower left leg, is making his first appearance of the North American hard-court swing.

Defending champion Borna Coric was leading American Sebastian Korda 7-6(5), 4-3 in their first-round match when rain returned to the Lindner Family Tennis Centre.

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It has been a frustrating day for players and fans in Cincinnati, with rain delaying the start of play by more than 2 1/2 hours. Play has now been halted twice since the late start to Day 2.

Every tournament has a home favourite who receives an extra push from the local fans. Last week, Canadians came out in large numbers to support former World No. 3 Milos Raonic in Toronto. This week, the player who is receiving similar treatment is Ohio’s own J.J. Wolf.

“I think any other tournament I'm on and I'm focussed,” Wolf told ATPTour.com. “In Cincy, I think I'll let myself look up at the crowd and see family and friends and really appreciate it.”

Ten Americans began the ATP Masters 1000 singles event, but none are closer to the heart of the Cincinnati faithful than Wolf. The 24-year-old, who will play Toronto finalist Alex de Minaur in the first round, grew up at the Western & Southern Open.

“My grandpa, one day each tournament, every year, would take all of the cousins to go watch the matches,” Wolf said. “So it would be however many, 20 of us, or whoever was in town, and we would get to go and walk around for the whole day. We'd get Graeter's ice cream in between matches, and it was just a treat.”

Wolf fondly remembers eating black raspberry chocolate chip ice cream, which he calls the “best flavour in the country”. One day, he hoped to be in the same position as the players he watched. This year the American will compete in the main draw for the third time and pursue his first win at the Lindner Family Tennis Centre.

Will a return to Cincinnati be the catalyst for a Felix Auger-Aliassime resurgence in 2023?

The 12th-seeded Canadian dug deep Monday for a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 triumph against Matteo Berrettini in a tense first-round encounter at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati. Auger-Aliassime recovered impressively from dropping the opening set on Grandstand to notch his second win in six Lexus ATP Head2Head meetings with the Italian.

Arriving in Ohio on a five-match losing streak, Auger-Aliassime was handed one of the toughest first-round draws possible in seven-time tour-level champion Berrettini. Yet he outhit the Italian by 25 winners to 13 en route to a two-hour, 25-minute confidence-boosting triumph.

“It’s a big win. It’s been a tough year, dealing with new things,” said Auger-Aliassime. “Every win that I get, I’m happy, from now on. Of course the tournament has just started and I want to go further. I still have high ambitions. I never doubted myself.

“There’s comments right and left, but at the end of the day I know my tennis didn’t leave me. I know I can still play great tennis and I’ve proved it today again. So I’m going to try to keep going that way and it’s a positive start. Let’s try to keep this rolling.”

Two #NextGenATP players made a splash on the ATP Challenger Tour this past week.

Dino Prizmic, 18, continued his rapid rise by winning the Banja Luka Open on Sunday while Italian Matteo Gigante collected his second Challenger trophy of the season, claiming the Serena Wines 1881 - Acqua Maniva Tennis Cup on home soil. All five of this week’s Challenger champions rose to career-high rankings on Monday.

Prizmic downed fifth seed and Belgian Kimmer Coppejans 6-2, 6-3 in the final to become the youngest Croatian champion since a 17-year-old Borna Coric in 2014. Prizmic, who won this year’s Roland Garros boys’ singles title, is the first player to win a Grand Slam junior crown and a Challenger title in the same season since Wu Yibing in 2017.

“It’s an amazing feeling because this is my first Challenger win,” said Prizmic, who is at No. 175 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. “I hope I will continue like this. I’m very happy because this year’s work is showing up.”

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From Novak Djokovic's record seven year-end No. 1 presented by Pepperstone finishes to Roger Federer's 237 consecutive weeks at No. 1, several ATP Tour stars have smashed the record books at the top of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

ATPTour.com continues to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings by providing a lens on some of the most historic World No. 1 achievements.

Photo Credit: Getty Images/ATP Tour
Year-End ATP No. 1 Presented By Pepperstone
Novak Djokovic made history on 6 November 2021 when he secured the year-end No. 1 presented by Pepperstone for a record seventh time, eclipsing the mark he previously shared with Pete Sampras. Djokovic, who ended the season atop of tennis’ mountain for the first time in 2011, lifted at least one major every year that he secured the year-end No. 1 (also 2011-12, '14-15, '18 and 20).

"Just proud and extremely happy. Obviously that was one of the biggest goals and it's always one of the biggest goals, to try to be No. 1 and end the season as No. 1," Djokovic said at the time. "To do it for the record seventh time and surpass my childhood idol and role model, Pete, is incredible. Very grateful, very blessed to be in this position."

The lowest he fell since first rising to No. 1 came in May 2018 when he dropped to No. 22, spending a total of six weeks outside the Top 20. The Serbian, who missed the second half of the 2017 season with an elbow injury, held a 6-6 record across the first five months of the 2018 season. He ended the year strongly, though, clinching four tour-level titles, including Grand Slam crowns at Wimbledon and the US Open, resulting in him ending the year ranked No. 1 for the fifth time. 

"Always embrace it. I think that's the beauty of it, in the sport that we're playing. And you can transfer that to life."

The 32-year-old Grigor Dimitrov knows that life on the ATP Tour can feel like an incredible privilege or an extremely frustrating endeavour. But the hard times only serve to "make a stronger steel", according to the Bulgarian.

That pearl of wisdom is among the messages Dimitrov shared with his younger self as part of ATP Uncovered's 'Note To Self' Series.

Dimitrov also touched on the constant comparisons to Roger Federer that have followed him throughout his career, explaining how he finally learned to accept it as he became more comfortable with his own path.

"Being compared to Roger Federer for, I don't know, 20 years already. How about like drop it, let it go," he said in part. "I just handled it. I made a name for myself."

Rain has delayed the start of Monday’s play at the Western & Southern Open, where Felix Auger-Aliassime’s big-hitting clash with Matteo Berrettini headlines the Day 2 schedule in Cincinnati.

The 12th-seeded Auger-Aliassime and seven-time ATP Tour champion Berrettini were due to step on Grandstand at 11 a.m. local time at the hard-court ATP Masters 1000 event, but play will now not start before midday due to the weather.

When the rain clears in Ohio, it will be a sixth tour-level meeting between Auger-Aliassime and Berrettini. The latter leads 4-1 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series, but Auger-Aliassime triumphed in the pair’s only previous Cincinnati meeting in 2021.

Home favourite John Isner and Jordan Thompson are second on the Grandstand schedule, with the winner set to face top seed Carlos Alcaraz in the second round. ATP Tour stars in action later on centre court include defending champion Borna Coric, who plays Sebastian Korda. In the night session, 16th seed Alexander Zverev takes on Grigor Dimitrov.

On Stadium 3, wild cards Brandon Nakashima and Stan Wawrinka will do battle for the right to take on 10th seed Frances Tiafoe in the second round.

Steve Johnson knows what it is like to win ATP Tour titles, reach the Top 25 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings and win an Olympic medal. The past two-and-a-half years, the 33-year-old has also learned what it means to be a father of two daughters, and he is still finding success on court.

The American has won two ATP Challenger Tour trophies in the past month, triumphing in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and Lexington, Kentucky. Despite winning just five matches across the first six months of the year, Johnson returned to the winners’ circle, ending his three-year title drought at all levels.

“Anytime you can be the last man standing in any tournament, it’s always the goal,” Johnson told ATPTour.com. “You’d like to get your year started a little sooner than June or July, but better late than never.”

A four-time tour-level titlist, Johnson's role as a father has shifted his point of view. Married to his wife Kendall for five years, they have two daughters: Emma (two) and Molly (three months). Johnson, who is in his 11th year as a pro, has willingly changed his schedule since becoming a father to priortise more family time.

Jannik Sinner captured the biggest title of his career last week at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers, where he lifted his maiden ATP Masters 1000 crown.

ATPTour.com looks at the movers of the week as of Monday, 14th August 2023.

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No. 5 Holger Rune, +1 (Career High)
The 20-year-old’s climb up the Pepperstone ATP Rankings hit new heights on Monday when he cracked the Top 5 for the first time. The Dane broke into the Top 100 for the first time in January 2022, before he made his Top 10 debut last November after winning the Rolex Paris Masters. Rune has captured four tour-level titles and will aim to add to his collection at this week’s Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati.

No. 6 Jannik Sinner, +2 (Career High)
The Italian has also jumped to a career-high No. 6 after becoming just the second Italian to win a Masters 1000 title (also Fabio Fognini, Monte-Carlo 2019). Sinner defeated Alex de Minaur in the Toronto final to improve to 18-4 at Masters 1000 events this season. The 21-year-old is also the youngest Canadian Masters 1000 champion since then-20-year-old Alexander Zverev in 2017.

Italian Jannik Sinner further boosted his chances of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time after winning his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers.

The 21-year-old enjoyed a standout week in Toronto, defeating Matteo Berrettini, Gael Monfils, Tommy Paul and Alex de Minaur, climbing two spots to fourth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin.

Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin

Sinner (4,185 points) leapfrogged fifth-placed Stefanos Tsitsipas (3,445 points) and sixth-placed Andrey Rublev (3,280 points) after becoming the second first-time Masters 1000 champion of the season. Rublev triumphed in Monte-Carlo in April.

Two years ago, Sinner replaced Matteo Berrettini as an alternate mid-tournament at the Pala Alpitour in Turin. This season, Sinner, who is 18-4 at Masters 1000 events in 2023, is trying to qualify directly into the field for the first time.

The day before Holger Rune flew to Toronto to begin his North American hard-court swing, he practised with a special training partner: Caroline Wozniacki, who last week in Montreal returned to action for the first time since the 2020 Australian Open.

Wozniacki inspired Rune and many other children in Denmark by reaching World No. 1 and winning a major title at the 2018 Australian Open.

“My first memory of her is watching her from TV and she was playing all the tournaments and we were on the couch, all the family, watching her,” Rune told ATPTour.com. “The memory that stands out was when she won the Australian Open. We were all watching. It was crazy to watch a Danish player win a Grand Slam in an incredible match, so it was a big inspiration.”

At the time, Rune was a 14-year-old with big dreams. Following in Wozniacki’s footsteps, he has proven himself one of the best players in the world. On Monday, he cracked the top five in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the first time at World No. 5.

On Sunday afternoon at the Western & Southern Open, the Danish stars spent time together for a special interview. During the session, Wozniacki praised her countryman’s efforts.

Daniil Medvedev, the 2019 Western & Southern Open, is optimistic for an uptick in form in Cincinnati after a disappointing quarter-final exit in Toronto to eventual finalist Alex de Minaur.

“It's my last tournament before the US Open, important tournament, Masters 1000. In Toronto, unfortunately I didn't do everything that I wanted to do with my game,” Medvedev said. “So I have a couple of days to try to get it working here and then of course, most important is going to be to try to win the matches. The draw is pretty packed, I would say very strong, which is normal. So looking forward [to it].”

Medvedev held leads against De Minaur in each set, but was unable to put away the Australian and paid for it with an exit in the last eight. But the good news for the No. 3 player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings is that he believes he knows what was off with his game in Canada.

“I felt like I was missing a little bit one shot where I could just hit the guy straight away and put him in trouble,” Medvedev said. “So I'm going try to do this. Two, three days I have in practice and hopefully I can integrate it also during the tournament.

"But the thing is that the practice is so different to [the] tournament. So as I said, you try to work on something in practice, but it really doesn't matter [unless] you're going to be able to do it in the match. But that's what you're trying to do.”

It was strictly a baseline brawl. Alex de Minaur managed one baseline winner in 105 points against Jannik Sinner. Strategically, it was the wrong fight to pick.

Sinner defeated De Minaur 6-4, 6-1 in the final of the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers on Sunday on the back of overpowering the Aussie from the back of the court. Both players had little interest in coming to the net to finish points. Sinner appeared at the net only four times (won 4/4), while De Minaur won 5/9 at the front of the court. He needed to camp there more often.

Both players elected to stay in their comfort zone from the back of the court, which provided the Italian with a huge strategic advantage. Sinner won an impressive 57 per cent (44/77) of points from the baseline, while De Minaur could only muster 39 per cent (28/72). This style of play was always going to favour the heavy-hitting Italian, as he could extract error after error from De Minaur in gruelling back-court exchanges.

Baseline Points Won
Set 1: Sinner = 52% (23/44); De Minaur = 44% (18/41)
Set 2: Sinner = 64% (21/33); De Minaur = 32% (10/31)
Total: Sinner = 57% (44/77); De Minaur = 39% (28/72)

The shot that broke down the most was De Minaur’s forehand, with 21 errors and a solitary winner. Sinner committed 18 forehand errors but collected four winners. Sinner’s primary pattern was to constantly attack De Minaur’s flat forehand, taking away his time to prepare his hands and feet correctly.

De Minaur’s backhand is typically a rock, but this side also bled more errors than usual. De Minaur committed 17 backhand errors, with no groundstroke winners. Sinner committed 14 backhand errors, with two winners. It didn’t matter whether the ball flowed through the Deuce or Ad court. Sinner was almost always the player leaning on the ball, while the Aussie was hard-pressed to apply the pressure necessary to force the errors he required.

Novak Djokovic long ago let go the disappointment he felt after losing the Wimbledon final to Carlos Alcaraz.

“It's not the first [nor] the last match that I lost, so I was over it in a day,” Djokovic said ahead of the Western & Southern Open. “Obviously, I needed some really good rest after that, and some time with my family, and that's what I did. So, of course, I was regretting not using the chances during that final.

“I was [a] set up and had some set points in the second and I felt that I was close to being in the lead. And then, obviously, some break points in the fifth. It was a close match, but well deserved from his side, because to win he played better in the important moments, and that's what I said after the final. I think he was a deserved winner and that's it really, pretty much. You move on.”

The 36-year-old was one win from claiming his third major title of the season. This year’s Australian Open and Roland Garros champion was well-positioned to make another push for the Grand Slam — winning all four majors in a year — but is happy to put that chase behind him and pursue new goals.

“I need to obviously move on and try to regroup and find motivation for what's coming up, and all the challenges that are ahead of me, and that's why I'm here,” Djokovic said. “Otherwise, if I'm not motivated, I wouldn't be here. Now, after many years of professional tennis, I feel like I have a choice to play what I really want to play. And I really wanted to be here in Cincinnati, and of course, [the] US Open [is] around the corner.”