Tommy Paul saved a match point on the way to a 4-6, 7-6 (8\/6), 6-4 upset of top seed Alexander Zverev on Wednesday to reach the quarter-finals of the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Masters.<\/p>\n
The match was interrupted for 90 minutes in the seventh game of the second set by rain and had two more five-minute pauses as drops were dried from the court.<\/p>\n
French Open champion Zverev had a chance to close out a victory at 6-5 in the second-set tiebreaker but stuffed a volley into the net.<\/p>\n
The German again gained an edge in the deciding set with a break for 4-2, but Paul broke back in the next game and again for a 5-4 lead.<\/p>\n
He served out the victory with confidence for his third win over Zverev in their last four meetings.<\/p>\n
“I’m not sure how I did it,” Paul said. “I put some returns in, he gave me some looks at second serves and he threw in a few doubles (faults). That always helps a ton.<\/p>\n
“I went after the ball a bit more, I was having fun out there. I hope I can keep building on this and peak at the US Open.”<\/p>\n
Paul next faces Roland Garros runner-up Flavio Cobolli, who labored two and a half hours to engineer a turnaround against red-hot Spaniard Rafael Jodar 4-6, 7-6 (7\/3), 6-3.<\/p>\n
Cobolli has won all three of his matches in Cincinnati in three sets.<\/p>\n
The durable Italian reached his second Masters-level quarter-final of the season after Madrid, and he prevented 19-year-old Jodar from reaching an eighth quarter-final in nine events.<\/p>\n
“At the end of the second set and start of the third I told myself to believe, try on every point,” Cobolli said. “I knew I had a chance.<\/p>\n
“Rafa has had an unbelievable season but maybe he was a bit tired. At the end I deserved to win as I was fresher than him.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
“I pushed to my limit to get through. Sometimes I have to remind myself that I’m really strong.”<\/p>\n
Thiago Tirante, who upset Novak Djokovic in the second round, continued his surprise run at the last big event prior to the August 30 start of the US Open.<\/p>\n
He recovered to defeat Jakub Mensik 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 and book his first Masters quarter-final.<\/p>\n
Australian Alex de Minaur was no match for Frenchman Arthur Fils, who cruised to a 6-3, 6-4 victory over the fifth seed.<\/p>\n
– Solid Swiatek –<\/p>\n
Defending women’s champion Iga Swiatek needed four match points to get past Diane Parry of France 6-3, 6-3.<\/p>\n
The seventh-seeded Pole claimed her fourth consecutive quarter-final in Cincy and her 30th at the 1000 level.<\/p>\n
She now faces a re-run of last week’s Toronto final against Elena Rybakina, who beat Diana Shnaider 6-4, 6-4.<\/p>\n
Swiatek was broken as she served for victory leading a set and 5-2.<\/p>\n
It took three additional chances in the next game to break Parry, who hit the net with a backhand to lose in 88 minutes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“I was solid, even if I had to put more energy into my shots since she was hitting so much slice,” said six-time Grand Slam winner Swiatek, who captured her first title of 2026 with her victory over reigning Australian Open champion Rybakina in last week’s Toronto final.<\/p>\n
Two other current Grand Slam champions bowed out.<\/p>\n
Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk rallied from a set down to beat fifth seeded French Open winner Mirra Andreeva 4-6, 6-0, 6-2.<\/p>\n
Sixth-seeded Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova fell to Amanda Anisimova 6-1, 6-4 in another weather-disrupted match.<\/p>\n
Anisimova will face third-seeded fellow American Jessica Pegula, who missed a chance to serve out a quick win but held on to beat Romanian veteran Sorana Cirstea 6-2, 4-6, 7-5.<\/p>\n
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