Cincinnati Open: Sabalenka, Zverev Stunned in Fourth Round

The Cincinnati Open ate both top seeds on a rainy Wednesday. AFP reported that Aryna Sabalenka and Alexander Zverev crashed out of the Cincinnati Masters within hours of each other in fourth-round play. Czech Sara Bejlek, ranked 35th, beat the world No. 1 7-6 (9-7), 6-4 in a match that finished shortly after midnight into Thursday. American Tommy Paul saved a match point and beat Zverev 4-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4. The US Open starts August 30. The last big hard-court rehearsal just dumped the favorites.

AFP's dispatch from Cincinnati, issued early August 20, called Bejlek's win the bigger shock. Sabalenka had already gone out in the fourth round in Toronto last week after a Wimbledon fourth-round exit and a Roland Garros quarterfinal. The Cincinnati Open was supposed to be a reset. It became another early night.

How Sara Bejlek stunned Aryna Sabalenka

Sabalenka led by a break in the opening set and sat at 5-1 in the tiebreaker, AFP reported. Bejlek came back to take the set in 65 minutes. She broke the Belarusian three times in the second set, rallied from 4-1 down, and closed with a love game capped by an ace. “I lost my words -- it feels incredible,” Bejlek said after her first win over a top-10 player. “I was playing what I was feeling and not really thinking. I was trying not to be nervous and just play. I believed in myself no matter what.”

Bejlek won the Abu Dhabi hard-court title in February as a qualifier, AFP noted, and now plays American Madison Keys in the quarterfinals. Sabalenka is a four-time Grand Slam champion and the world No. 1. The Cincinnati Open draw just treated her like another name in the fourth round. That is the danger of this week. New York is 10 days away, and the ranking does not play the points.

Tommy Paul upsets Alexander Zverev

Paul's win was uglier and wetter. AFP said the match was interrupted by rain for 90 minutes in the seventh game of the second set and had two more five-minute pauses while the court was dried. French Open champion Zverev had a chance to close it at 6-5 in the second-set tiebreaker and dumped a volley into the net. He broke for 4-2 in the third. Paul broke back, then broke again for 5-4. It was Paul's third win over Zverev in their last four meetings.

“I'm not sure how I did it,” Paul said, per AFP. “I put some returns in, he gave me some looks at second serves and he threw in a few doubles. That always helps a ton. I went after the ball a bit more, I was having fun out there.” Paul next plays Roland Garros runner-up Flavio Cobolli, who needed two and a half hours to beat Rafael Jodar 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3.

Other Cincinnati Open fourth-round results

Second seed Felix Auger-Aliassime lost 6-3, 6-4 to Frances Tiafoe. Sixth seed Taylor Fritz beat Chris O'Connell 6-4, 6-3. Thiago Tirante, who had upset Novak Djokovic in the second round, reached his first Masters quarterfinal by beating Jakub Mensik 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. Arthur Fils beat fifth seed Alex de Minaur 6-3, 6-4. On the women's side, Coco Gauff saved all eight break points she faced in a 6-3, 6-2 win over Marie Bouzkova. Defending champion Iga Swiatek needed four match points to beat Diane Parry 6-3, 6-3 and now meets Elena Rybakina, a rematch of last week's Toronto final. Marta Kostyuk beat French Open winner Mirra Andreeva 4-6, 6-0, 6-2. Amanda Anisimova beat Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova 6-1, 6-4.

The Cincinnati Open still has a weekend. It does not have Sabalenka or Zverev. That is the story heading toward Flushing Meadows, and AFP already wrote the lede: the top seeds are gone.