MASON, Ohio -- In the Cincinnati Open, top-ranked Iga Swiatek faced a tough challenge in her return to hard courts but managed to secure a victory against Varvara Gracheva with a score of 6-0, 6-7 (8), 6-2. Swiatek, who recently represented Poland in the Paris Olympics on clay, expressed the difficulty of transitioning from the slowest surface to the fastest surface but remained content with her performance. She is now set to play against Marta Kostyuk in the next round.
Swiatek, a three-time French Open champion, has been enjoying a successful season with six WTA Tour victories so far. On the men's side, top-ranked Jannik Sinner also emerged victorious in his match against Alex Michelsen, setting up a third-round encounter with Jordan Thompson.
In a surprising turn of events, Jiri Lehecka caused an upset by defeating fourth-seeded Daniil Medvedev. Meanwhile, young talent Mirra Andreeva impressed by defeating 11th seeded Emma Navarro and will now face former Cincinnati champion Karolina Pliskova.
Elsewhere in the tournament, Diana Shnaider of Russia, who reached the semifinals in Toronto, secured a win against Zhang Shuai. Sinner, with a remarkable record of 25-2 on hard courts this season, is aiming to reach the quarterfinals in Cincinnati for the first time.
Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas, competing in his first tournament since parting ways with his father as his coach, staged a comeback victory against Jan-Lennard Struff. Tsitsipas, the No. 9 seed, shared his decision to no longer be coached by his father after a recent defeat in Montreal.
