ATP Masters Cincinnati: Rafael Nadal loses comeback match against Borna Coric
Rafael Nadal was eliminated in the second round of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Cincinnati. The Spaniard lost 6:7 (9), 6:4 and 3:6 to Borna Coric in his comeback match after an injury break of more than a month.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: Aug 18, 2022, 06:04 am
Rafael Nadal missed a sense of achievement on his return to the tour: The 22-time Grand Slam winner had to defeat Borna Coric in the second round of the ATP Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati 6: 7 (9), 6: 4 and 3:6 beaten. For Nadal, the first appearance after suffering an abdominal muscle injury at Wimbledon ended in disappointment.
In the first section, which was temporarily interrupted due to rain showers, the Spaniard missed two set balls in the tie-break, and he was able to win the second round thanks to a break to make it 4: 3. However, Coric was not deterred by this, hit back in the third set and won the third win in the fifth direct comparison with Nadal. The Croatian meets Roberto Bautista Agut in the round of 16, Nadal will continue at the US Open in New York from August 29th. After the Mallorcan's defeat, it is now also clear that Daniil Medvedev will tackle the last Grand Slam tournament of the year as the world number one.
Tsitsipas beats Krajinovic
Meanwhile, Stefanos Tsitsipas is still in Cincinnati. The fourth seeded Greek held his own against Filip Krajinovic 6:3 and 6:4 and will face Diego Schwartzman in the round of 16. Should Tsitsipas also prevail against the Argentine, he would in any case meet an American in the quarterfinals. Because Sebastian Korda was the last player to win his round of 16 ticket with a 4: 6, 6: 1 and 6: 4 win over Frances Tiafoe a few minutes after midnight (local time) and is now playing against John Isner.
With Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton, two other local heroes are in the round of 16. The two won their second round games early on Wednesday afternoon .