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Reuters
Rafael Nadal's tune-up for the US Open didn't go as planned.
Nadal lost his first match at the Western Southern Open in Mason, Ohio, to Croatia's Borna Coric in his second-round match on Wednesday, where she fell 7-6 (9) 4-6. We lost 6-3.
Nadal, the reigning French Open champion, took a bye in his first round as the tournament's second seed. The Spaniard was his 2013 champion at the Cincinnati area event. He was playing his first match since being forced to withdraw from Wimbledon before the semi-finals due to an abdominal laceration.
Not breaking serve in one set, Nadal scored his points his first two sets in a tiebreaker. Coric saved both and converted her third set point.
Nadal broke serve in the second set to put him ahead 4-3 before leveling the match. The third set also saw just one break as Coric led 4-2.
Early on Wednesday, Americans Ben Shelton and John Isner gave their home crowds a show and both scored surprise victories.
Wild card Shelton, who played in the entry, defeated fifth seed Casper Rudd (Norway) with his 6-3 6-3 win. Shelton, the reigning NCAA singles champion from Florida, scored 22 of his 26 (84.6%) of his points on first serve and won all nine of his games.
Shelton, just 19 years old, is making his ATP Masters 1000 debut at a Cincinnati-area event. He looked comfortable up to this point, but he's still adjusting to playing against the best the Tour has to offer.
"You think we have to fake it until we can, don't we?" Shelton said. “If you don't feel completely comfortable at first, do your best to show that you are comfortable until you find yourself in a place where you feel comfortable.”
The more you get, the easier your time will be because your heart rate will go down and you'll feel more calm on the court.”
Isner beat No. 8 seed Hubert Halkacz of Poland to 7. -6(5) 6-7(5) 6-2. However, the second-round match had to be paused as the ballboy fainted on the court, prompting both Isner and Furkachu to offer help.
"From what I've heard, this kid will be fine. I hope he's staying hydrated and resting in air conditioning," he said.
US No. 11 seed Taylor he also won Fritz and Australia's Nick Kyrgios he defeated 6-3 6-2. But not all Americans won the second round of the contest. Tommy Paul lost to Canadian Dennis Shapovalov with his 3-6 6-4 6-3 and qualifier Marcus Giron with his 6-3 6-3. 15th-seeded Spaniard Roberto Bautista results with his Agut.
Except for Rudd and Hurkacz, other seeded competitors handled the business.
4th seed Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Serbia's Filip Krajinovic, Russia's 6th seed Andrei Rublev defeated lucky loser Italy's Fabio Fognini, and 7th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime Canada. defeated Australia's Alex De Minaur to lose the 10th seed. Italy's Yannick Sinner took the win after Serbia's Miomir Kecimanovic retired in the second set.
In another match, No. 9-seeded Cameron Norry (Great Britain) responded to compatriot Andy Murray with his 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
– Field Level Media
