Cincy withdrawals, upsets have opened door for opportunity

While there is still plenty of tennis to come, the story on the men’s side of the Western & Southern Open has been about who has not taken the court, rather than who has. Seven of the Top 10 in the ATP rankings withdrew from the tournament, either citing preexisting injuries or pulling out after the draw was made late last week. Fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev became the eighth Top 10 player out of the event when he lost his opener to Frances Tiafoe on Wednesday.

But while that has created a void, it has also created openings in Cincinnati for players who have not broken through on the Masters 1000 stage before, with five players in the Round of 16 earning the opportunity to reach their first quarterfinal at the second-highest level in men’s tennis. At least two of those competitors are guaranteed to clinch a career-best result in a Masters 1000 event.

While the stakes are certainly high, Jared Donaldson and Nikoloz Basilashvili are used to playing each other under pressure. In the final round of French Open Qualifying in both 2015 and 2016, Basilashvili edged out Donaldson in three-setters to reach the clay Grand Slam’s main draw.

Basilashvili, who won his first two Masters 1000 matches this week, benefitted from 2016 Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic’s withdrawal. He defeated lucky loser Christian Harrison, 6-3, 6-3, in the second round to set up his clash with Donaldson, who took out another lucky loser in Ramkumar Ramanathan. Ramanathan had replaced world No. 21 Gael Monfils in the draw.

Now, Donaldson will have his third chance of the year to reach his first Masters 1000 quarterfinal, and 14th opportunity to make a tour-level quarterfinal. Last week in Montreal, he let a 6-0, 2-0 lead slip away against Diego Schwartzman in the Round of 16.

28-year-old Yuichi Sugita, the oldest player of the group trying to break through, beat 13th-seeded Jack Sock and qualifier Joao Sousa to earn his opportunity against the second-ranked player in the Race to Milan, world No. 32 Karen Khachanov.

The 21-year-old Russian was perhaps the greatest beneficiary of 19-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer’s withdrawal, as he followed up a three-set win over Schwartzman with a thumping of lucky loser Thomas Fabbiano, who took Federer’s spot in the draw.

While Khachanov had yet to advance past the third round of a Masters 1000, he is the highest-ranked player of the group, and will be a seed at the US Open regardless of his result against Sugita.

Tiafoe, who is coming off his first Top 10 victory against Zverev, will have his work cut out for him as he attempts to make his first tour-level quarterfinal against No. 14-seeded John Isner. If the 19-year-old American defeats his compatriot, who beat him in a five-set thriller at last year’s US Open, it is safe to say that the Cincinnati crowd will get another dose of an excited Tiafoe.

While Cincinnati is lacking many of the ATP’s brightest stars, the tournament certainly isn’t lacking opportunity.

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