Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka lost just four games to breeze into fourth round, while Brandon Nakashima recorded a huge win against Grand Slam winner Daniil Medvedev.
Aryna Sabalenka is a four-time singles Grand Slam winner [Matthew Stockman/Getty via AFP]
By AFP
World number one Aryna Sabalenka needed just 54 minutes to blast her way into the fourth round of the Cincinnati Open on Tuesday, while fourth seed Daniil Medvedev suffered a stunning three-set collapse against in-form American Brandon Nakashima.
Sabalenka took only 20 minutes to blow through the first set against China’s Wang Xinyu, ranked 36th in the world, before opening the second set with a break of serve.
She did not face a single break point in the match, losing only six points across eight service games while committing just five unforced errors to 17 winners en route to a 6-1, 6-3 victory.
The win marked her 45th in a row at Masters 1000 level. “I cannot complain. She’s a tough opponent,” Sabalenka said. “To win in straight sets like this in under an hour is insane. I’m super happy to be through.”
The result was Sabalenka’s easiest win in some time, following a fourth-round Wimbledon exit and an early loss in Canada last week, and it pushed her season record to 40-7. The 2024 champion is chasing her 25th career title and looking to end a six-tournament drought, and she is only the third woman to reach 50 career WTA 1000 match wins as world No. 1. She will next face Sara Bejlek, who rallied for a three-set win over 16th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova — the player who upset Sabalenka in Toronto.
Medvedev’s loss carries far more weight than a single scoreline. Nakashima broke him for a 4-2 lead in the first set and served for it, but Medvedev saved four set points, broke back, then won the tiebreak on a backhand passer. Trailing 0-40 while serving at 4-5 in the second set, Nakashima looked finished — instead he saved three match points with composed ballstriking, denying them with a forehand approach-and-volley, an 18-shot rally, and a serve-and-volley play to force a decider. Medvedev’s rhythm then collapsed entirely, and Nakashima broke him twice to close out a 6-7(3), 7-6(4), 6-1 win in two hours and 51 minutes. It was Nakashima’s first win in four career meetings with Medvedev, who had beaten him in the Brisbane final in January and previously won all five sets contested between them.
The defeat extends a rough stretch for the Russian, who arrived in Cincinnati mid-overhaul. Medvedev admitted he was not mentally ready for a first-round loss to Botic van de Zandschulp in Montreal, describing an erratic, passive spell marked by inconsistency and a lack of enthusiasm on court.
He split with 2002 Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson before the Canadian Open and has since brought in former ATP pro Andrey Golubev, world No. 33 in his playing days, on a trial basis through Cincinnati and the US Open — Golubev’s first coaching role on tour.
“This is, of course, also a new adventure for me… he is also still learning. And so far, we have spent too little time together to say for sure,” Medvedev said of the partnership.
He has reached just one Grand Slam quarterfinal since the 2024 US Open, with three first-round Slam exits in 2025 alone.
Nakashima, meanwhile, arrived in Cincinnati fresh off his first Masters 1000 final in Montreal and a semifinal run in Washington, and the win moved him level with Medvedev for the second-most hard-court match wins on tour this season, with 20 — his summer hard-court record now stands at 10-2.
“Throughout these matches, there’s always ups and downs, times where I’m not feeling as good, but I just try to stick through every moment and keep fighting,” Nakashima said afterward. He will next face Portugal’s Nuno Borges, who ended a five-match losing streak in their head-to-head by beating 13th seed Andrey Rublev 6-3, 6-4.
Elsewhere in the men’s draw, fifth seed and Washington champion Taylor Fritz fired eight aces past Daniel Merida 6-3, 6-4 to set up a fourth-round clash with Australian Chris O’Connell, while Italian 10th seed Lorenzo Musetti eased past American Michael Zheng 6-1, 6-3.
