THE second day of Western and Southern Open saw some intriguing results as the Round of 64 finished off and a couple of Round of 32 draws took the court.

A number of Americans capitalised on home soil in Cincinnati, as three made their way through to the second round with two yet to play and just one falling on Day 2 thus far. That player was qualifier Marcos Giron, who put up a tough fight against Alexander Bublik, but could not compete with the Kazakh’s service game during a huge third set tiebreaker, eventually falling 3-6 6-3 7-6(5). Hard-hitters John Isner and Reilly Opelka both reigned supreme in their respective three-setters, hitting 26 and 14 aces respectively despite rain delays in excess of four hours. Isner is just the second player to reach the 13,000 ace milestone in his 4-6 7-6 6-4 victory over British lefty, Cameron Norrie, joining Ivo Karlovic (13,709) atop the tables.

“Very cool. I do know that I’m within shouting distance of Ivo, of maybe getting that record,” Isner said. “If he does retire soon, that certainly is a milestone that seems attainable, the all-time record milestone. I would like to hold that record, I’m not going to shy away from that. We’ll see if I can get there.”

“I do think the rain delay might have helped me a little bit,” Isner said. “It was a match I have played a bunch before, a scenario where I eke out a second set and maybe just play one decent game in the third set and hold on with my serve from there. I’ll certainly take it. That’s the type of match you find yourself winning when you’re confident, and things just sort of go your way. That’s what I have going for me right now.”

Fellow countryman Sebastian Korda had proceedings his own way during a 6-4 6-4 victory over Laslo Djere, winning 86 per cent of his first serve points to claim the win in 81 minutes. Wildcard Frances Tiafoe and qualifier Tommy Paul will look to join the winners list, taking on 16th seed Cristian Garin and Frenchman, Ugo Humbert, respectively, in the remaining two Round of 64 matches of the day.

While Garin’s clash is yet to be complete, two other first round seeds completed matches with ninth seed Hubert Hurkacz overcoming a shaky second set to claim a 6-1 6-7 6-1 sweep of Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. Hurkacz fired off 15 aces to clinch victory winning 73 per cent of points off his first  serve and backed that up with a solid 61 per cent effectiveness off his second serve. Davidovich Fokina was not the only Spaniard to fall, as all four of the day’s competitors went down in intriguing circumstances. 13th seed Roberto Bautista Agut was the most notable loss, as the Spaniard fell to Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 6-3 6-4 in just 84 minutes.

“I am very very happy,” Dimitrov said. “He is such a tough opponent, but I served really well when I had to. It was good to finish a match in straight sets, I am just appreciating the moment.”

Dimitrov fired off 16 aces and won 76 per cent of his first serve points to clean up the contest. Two Italian-Spanish clashes came to blows with both results going the way of the Italian, with the Round of 64 clash between Lorenzo Sonego and talented teen Carlos Alcaraz seeing the Italian weather a second set tiebreaker to claim a 6-3 7-6(6) sweep in two hours and 11 minutes, while the Round of 32 matchup saw fifth seed Matteo Berrettini fire off 25 aces to overcome a first set deficit and defy Albert Ramos-Vinolas, 6-7(5) 6-3 7-5. The other second round clash playing out today is yet to begin, as Benoit Paire and sixth seed Denis Shapovalov shape up.

The remaining two matches of the first round saw Croatian Marin Cilic and Frenchman Gael Monfils join the winners list, with the Croatian proving too strong for Russian Aslan Karatsev, 7-5 6-3, and Monfils following a similar trajectory with his 7-6(0) 6-2 victory over Serbian, Dusan Lajovic.

WESTERN & SOUTHERN OPEN ROUND OF 64 RESULTS:

[9] Hubert Hurkacz (POL) defeated Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (ESP) 6-1 6-7 6-1
Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) defeated [13] Robert Bautista Agut (ESP) 6-3 6-4
John Isner (USA) defeated Cameron Norrie (GBR) 4-6 7-6 6-4
Sebastian Korda (USA) defeated Laslo Djere (SRB) 6-4 6-4
Marin Cilic (CRO) defeated Aslan Karatsev (RUS) 7-5 6-3
Alexander Bublik (KAZ) defeated [Q] Marcos Giron (USA) 3-6 6-3 7-6
[Q] Reilly Opelka (USA) defeated [Q] Corentin Moutet (FRA) 7-6 4-6 6-4
Gael Monfils (FRA) defeated Dusan Lajovic (SRB) 7-6 6-2
Lorenzo Sonego (ITA) defeated [Q] Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) 6-3 7-6

[16] Cristian Garin (CHI) [Q] Tommy Paul (USA)
[WC] Frances Tiafoe (USA) Ugo Humbert (FRA)

WESTERN & SOUTHERN OPEN ROUND OF 32 RESULTS:

[5] Matteo Berrettini (ITA) defeated Albert Ramos Vinolas (ESP) 6-7 6-3 7-5
Benoit Paire (FRA) [6] Denis Shapovalov (CAN)

Picture credit: Western & Southern Open via Twitter