David Goffin produced a solid display to beat rising star Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-5 6-3 in the first round of the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati.
It is the first win over a top-20 player for the Belgian, 28, who has struggled for form in 2018. It also ends the Greek’s excellent run of form in recent weeks.
Tsitsipas, 20, beat Goffin just 11 days ago en route to the semi-final in Washington. He then performed outstandingly at the Rogers Cup as he beat Novak Djokovic, Dominic Thiem, Alexander Zverev and Kevin Anderson before losing to Rafael Nadal in the final.
However, the talented Greek was not at his best today. He made 35 unforced errors and hit just 10 winners during a lacklustre showing.
He also struggled on his second serve, and Goffin took full advantage as he 54% of points against it. This enabled the Belgian to break Tsitsipas four times and set up a relatively comfortable victory.
The 11th seed’s next opponent will be Benoit Paire, who thrashed David Ferrer 6-2 6-2 in just 69 minutes yesterday.
Jack Sock loses again
Elsewhere in Cincinnati, Jack Sock lost his eighth consecutive singles match. This time his opponent was Hyeon Chung, who progressed to the second round with a 2-6 6-2 6-1 win.
Milos Raonic had no such problems as he brushed aside Dusan Lajovic 6-3 6-3, while Borna Coric also won well as he beat Daniil Medvedev 6-2 6-3.
Toronto semi-finalist Karen Khachanov continued his excellent run with a hard-fought 2-6 6-3 6-2 win over Albert Ramos-Vinolas, while Nick Kyrgios survived a scare as he overcame Denis Kudla 6-7(2) 7-5 7-6(9).
Lucas Pouille failed to back up his victory over Andy Murray as he lost 7-6(7) 6-4 to Leonardo Mayer, Robin Haase negotiated Filip Krajinovic 4-6 6-2 6-3 and Marius Copil earned an impressive 6-4 6-2 win over Philipp Kohlschreiber.
