Jodar Ends Shapovalov's Cincinnati Run as Boisson Sends Bencic Home

The Cincinnati hard courts produced their first genuine casualties on Sunday, and the most eye-catching of them belonged to Rafael Jodar. The young Spaniard took down Denis Shapovalov 7-5 4-6 7-5, twice edging tight sets on the Canadian's own terms — first set, third set, both by the narrowest margin available. Shapovalov's response in the second was emphatic enough to suggest a swing of momentum, but Jodar simply refused to blink in the decider, and one of the more experienced names in the draw was gone before the tournament had properly warmed up.

On the women's side the headline exit was Belinda Bencic's. Lois Boisson, still without a ranking in the entry lists for tomorrow's fixtures, accounted for the Swiss — a 6-3 the only set on record — and continued a run of results that has made her one of the more difficult first-week assignments in any draw. She will not be short of company in the next round: Diane Parry also came from a set down to beat Elise Mertens 2-6 6-2 6-2, recovering her length and depth after a scratchy opening half-hour, and the two Frenchwomen now meet each other.

Elsewhere in the women's event, Clara Tauson survived the day's longest examination, beating Peyton Stearns 7-6 1-6 7-5 in a match that swung violently between the two: a tie-break to open, a one-sided second set in Stearns's favour, then a decider that hinged on a single break late. Emma Navarro (3-6 6-4 6-2 over Anhelina Kalinina) and Maria Sakkari (6-2 5-7 6-1 against Kamilla Rakhimova) both needed three sets as well. Jessica Pegula was the exception, dispatching Simona Waltert 6-3 6-2 with a minimum of fuss.

The men's draw offered a similar pattern of hard-won victories. Tommy Paul beat Hubert Hurkacz 6-4 6-7 6-3, weathering a second-set tie-break to close it out on serve. Jiri Lehecka followed almost the same script against Matteo Berrettini, 6-4 6-7 6-3, and Alex de Minaur was handed the day's most awkward start of all — losing the opening set 1-6 to Quentin Halys before regrouping to win 6-3 7-6. Arthur Fery also went the distance, seeing off James Duckworth 6-4 2-6 7-6.

Arthur Fils and Terence Atmane were the men's cleanest winners. Fils took a tight opening set from Yannick Hanfmann on a tie-break and then ran away with it, 7-6 6-1; Atmane controlled Tomas Martin Etcheverry throughout for a 6-3 7-6 win. At Challenger level, Brownsburg has its final: Lloyd Harris recovered from a first-set tie-break to beat Daniel Milavsky 6-7 6-3 6-3, and Andre Ilagan was the more economical of the two semi-finalists, beating Jack Pinnington Jones 6-2 6-4.

Monday brings an immediate collision of today's winners. Navarro faces Pegula in an all-American meeting; Fery, having spent three sets on court, walks straight into de Minaur; Lehecka meets Fils in what looks the pick of the men's schedule; and Parry plays Boisson. Jodar's reward for beating Shapovalov is Alejandro Tabilo. Tommy Paul takes on Adolfo Daniel Vallejo, Alexander Blockx meets Flavio Cobolli, and Ben Shelton opens against Jaime Faria.