Katie Boulter lost nine consecutive matches en route to a first-round exit at the Cincinnati Open, as the British number one lost 2-6, 6-0, 7-5 to Poland’s Magda Linette.
Boulter started the match brilliantly and broke Linette’s serve twice, giving her a 4-0 lead and winning the first set.
But suddenly, from such a dominant position, Boulter could only score eight points in the entire second set, as Linette defeated the Brit with a bagel within 25 minutes and equalized the game.
The Pole, ranked 43rd in the world – 13 places behind Boulter – maintained her dominance into the third set, quickly securing her fourth consecutive break to take a 3-0 lead.
Boulter staged a mini-comeback after finally stopping the decline in the fourth game, eventually breaking to level the match at 4-4 in the deciding set – before fending off two match points on serve at 4-5.
But Linette converted her third match point two games later to avoid a decisive tie-break and will now face either 10th seed Liudmila Samsonova or Wang Xinyu in the second round.
Her British compatriot Harriet Dart was also eliminated after winning the first set, after suffering a 4-6, 6-0, 6-1 defeat to Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan.
Dart made a strong start after fighting her way through qualifying into the main draw, but was unable to maintain her level against the world number 34.
Donna Vekic lost to Ashlyn Krueger 5:7, 7:6 (7:4), 6:2 in her first match since winning the silver medal at the Olympic Games.
Krueger advanced through the qualifying rounds, where she defeated Naomi Osaka. In her first main draw appearance in Cincinnati, the American then beat Vekic, the 16th-seeded Croatian who lost to Zheng Qinwen in the women’s gold medal match in Paris.
Number one seed Iga Swiatek will be the star of the women’s action on Wednesday when she takes on France’s Varvara Gracheva.
Musetti and Tiafoe meet in the second round
In the men’s draw, Wimbledon semi-finalist Lorenzo Musetti and American Frances Tiafoe fought a thrilling second-round duel after both had survived their opening matches in the tournament.
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Frances Tiafoe defeated Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in straight sets to secure his place in the last 32 at the Cincinnati Open
Musetti, seeded 14th, defeated Nicolas Jarry. The Italian came from behind to win 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-4), while Tiafoe easily defeated Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-3, 7-6 (8-6).
Brandon Nakashima defeated 11th seed Taylor Fritz 6:4, 4:6, 7:6 (7:4), beating his all-American opponent in the deciding tiebreak of the third set after two hours and 17 minutes of play.
The 12th seeded American Ben Shelton also managed to beat his compatriot Reilly Opelka, triumphing 7:6 (7:3) 7:6 (7:3) after winning several tie-breaks.
World number one Jannik Sinner begins his campaign on Wednesday, facing American Alex Michelsen, while fourth seed Daniil Medvedev and ninth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas also play their opening matches.
Briton Jack Draper plays his opening round match against Spaniard Jaume Munar.
What’s next on Sky Sports Tennis?
Ahead of the final Grand Slam of 2024 – the US Open – you can see all of tennis’ biggest stars in action live on Sky Sports while competing throughout the hard court season.
- Cincinnati Open (ATP 1000) – 12-19 August
- Cincinnati Open (WTA 1000) – 13-19 August
- Winston-Salem Open (ATP 250) – June 18-24 August
- Tennis in the country, Cleveland (WTA 250) – 18.-24. August
- Abierto GNP Seguros, Monterrey (WTA 500) – 19-24. August
- US Open (ATP/WTA) – August 26th – September 8th
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