Katie Boulter lost nine games in a row on her way to a first-round exit at the Cincinnati Open, the British No 1 collapsing to a 2-6 6-0 7-5 defeat to Poland’s Magda Linette.
Boulter started the match superbly, immediately breaking Linette’s serve twice to race into a 4-0 lead on her way to taking the opening set.
But, suddenly, from a position of such dominance, Boulter would win only eight points the entire second set as Linette bageled the Brit inside 25 minutes to level the match.
The Pole, ranked 43rd in the world – 13 places below Boulter – maintained her dominance into the third set, swiftly securing a fourth-straight break of serve to move 3-0 up.
Boulter would mount a mini comeback after finally stop the rot in the fourth game, eventually breaking back to level things up at 4-4 in the decider – before then saving two match points when serving down 5-4.
But Linette would convert her third match point two games later to avoid a deciding tie-breaker and she’ll now face either 10th seed Liudmila Samsonova or Wang Xinyu in the second round.
Musetti and Tiafoe set up second-round clash
In the men’s draw, Wimbledon semi-finalist Lorenzo Musetti and the USA’s Frances Tiafoe set up a mouth-watering second-round match-up after both came through their tournament openers.
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Frances Tiafoe saw off Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in straight sets as he booked his place in the last 32 at the Cincinnati Open
Musetti, seeded 14th, beat Nicolas Jarry, the Italian coming from behind to win 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-4), while Tiafoe made lighter work of Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-3 7-6 (8-6).
American 12th seed Ben Shelton also came through in straight sets against countryman Reilly Opelka, triumphing 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-3) after getting the better of a couple of tie-breakers.
What’s coming up on Sky Sports Tennis?
In the run-up to the final Grand Slam of 2024 – the US Open – you can watch all of the biggest tennis stars in action live on Sky Sports as they compete across the hard-court season.
- Cincinnati Open (ATP 1000) – 12-19 August
- Cincinnati Open (WTA 1000) – 13-19 August
- Winston-Salem Open (ATP 250) – 18-24 August
- Tennis in the Land, Cleveland (WTA 250) – 18-24 August
- Abierto GNP Seguros, Monterrey (WTA 500) – 19-24 August
- US Open (ATP/WTA) – 26 August – 8 September
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