O'Connell edges Majchrzak 6-4 7-6 in Cincinnati opener

Christopher O'Connell came through a serve-dominated opening round in Cincinnati, beating Poland's Kamil Majchrzak 6-4, 7-6 without dropping a set. The margins were slim throughout: O'Connell landed 56.1% of his first serves but won 76.1% of those points, just ahead of Majchrzak's 74.4%, and the Australian struck 11 aces to his opponent's 13. The difference came behind the second delivery, where O'Connell won 55.6% of his points against 50.0% for Majchrzak, enough to survive the second-set tiebreak despite three double faults. It was a hard-earned place in the second round of the Masters 1000.