Cincy Diary: An American exodus as Keys, Fritz, Pegula, Tiafoe lose before quarterfinals

MASON, Ohio—The Cincinnati Open spent $260 million to renovate its facility this year. The tournament doubled its footprint. It constructed new buildings and dug sunken courts from scratch. It expanded its draws and offered $5 million more in prize money.

The one thing the event couldn’t upgrade was the weather. That part of the Ohio experience in August is the same as it ever was—i.e., stifling heat giving way to torrential rain, without much middle ground in between. Fans this week have spent a fair amount of time hiding from both beneath the many new shaded tables that the tournament added. The sky is immensely beautiful here, but it brings trouble.

Those shade umbrellas have come in handy, and so have the off days that were built into the longer schedule this year. Even after several truncated sessions, the tournament isn’t too far behind schedule as we head toward the quarterfinals.

Here’s a look at a Wednesday that got off to a slow start, but finished with a flurry. By 6:00 or so, we finally had tennis weather.

11:00 A.M.

What’s Medvedev still doing here?

There’s no rest for the weary in tennis, or even for those who lose early. On the practice courts, it’s not uncommon to see players who have already made their exits from Cincy, but aren’t ready to move on to New York. They can find good partners and good hard courts here.

On Wednesday, Daniil Medvedev and Tomas Machac, both of whom lost their opening-round matches days ago, were out dueling in the humid, 80-degree air. Neither has had a good season, or looks like any kind of a US Open contender, but you wouldn’t have known it from watching them play practice points. They were lasering pancake-flat ground strokes back and forth, and painting the lines. Their contact was so smooth it almost looked like they weren’t making contact at all—the ball was flying of its own accord.

You could watch them and lament your own mediocrity. Or you could look on the bright side and realize that the pros succumb to pressure just like the rest of us. Even they don’t play like this in matches.

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12:15 P.M.

Should I just call it?

It started so well for Frances Tiafoe. He came out crisp and in charge against Holger Rune. He won the first three games. He looked energized to be in the stadium court, where he reached the final a year ago. But it all slipped away just as fast. Rune took control with his forehand, and Tiafoe couldn’t find his way around it.

Then life went from bad to worse. At 4-4, he hit a winning backhand, but instead of celebrating, he winced. He felt something on his left side and wasn’t the same again. Tiafoe called the trainer and downed a few Tylenols, but by the start of the second set he was asking his coaches if he should stop.

When the full realization of what was happening hit him, Tiafoe stood still, screamed out an f-bomb, and belted a ball out of the stadium. His runner-up defense in Cincy was over, and a second straight trip to the semis at the US Open looks like a long shot now.

5:30 P.M.

Ay yi-yi-yi-yi!

That’s all Adrian Mannarino could say after drilling another of his ultra-flat ground strokes into the tape. The 37-year-old Frenchman had played the top seed, Jannik Sinner, as well and as close as possible for close to two hours. But now, with a chance to send it to a third set, he couldn’t deliver the killer blow when he needed it. The shots were there, the court was open, but the ball ended up in the net.

That said, Mannarino, with his deceptively easy swing and unprepossessing body, did something not many of Sinner’s opponents have managed to do in the last two years: He got a rise out of him. Sinner was visibly annoyed when a fan delayed his serve at one point, and he shot his coaches, including Darren Cahill, a sarcastic thumbs up after Mannarino won a big point at the end of the second set.

That’s tantrum-level stuff from the normally icy Italian, but as mentioned above, Mannarino couldn’t capitalize on his chances.

Sometimes you play like you’re No. 1. Other times your opponent plays like you’re No. 1.

6:00 P.M.

That’s him!

There are plenty of players who draw big crowds for their matches. But Carlos Alcaraz is the only one I’ve seen this year who can make fans run, as fast as they can, to watch him practice. If you see a stream of people sprinting across the grounds, you’ll probably find Alcaraz at the end of the rainbow.

On Wednesday, after a brutal 24 hours of heat and rain, the air cooled, the sun came out, the clouds—white, not dark this time—massed overhead, and Alcaraz appeared. He’s even more like himself in practice. He floats a little lighter around the court, and picks the ball off the short hop even more nonchalantly. He doesn’t go for as many spectacular running winners, opting for safe and heavy topspin instead. But he doesn’t skimp on the drop shots.

Practicing next to him was Ben Shelton, who had just finished winning a match, but looked like he wanted to rip a few forehands for good measure. The fans were happy to see Ben, but practicing next to Alcaraz is a little like standing next to the sun.

8:30 P.M.

You got this, Madi!

Madi, it turned out, did not have this.

Tiafoe’s defeat was just the start of a day to forget for the U.S. contingent. By evening, three other top Americans, Jessica Pegula, Taylor Fritz and Madison Keys had followed him out the exit door.

Was it the long wait and multiple rain delays? Pegula had her momentum stopped cold by a thunderstorm on Tuesday night, and Fritz was exiled to Stadium 3 late on Wednesday.

Was it the extra desire to do well in the States, with the Open coming up? Was it just a random bad day for a group who has had a strong season overall?

Having taken a peek at all three losses, I had the sense that Pegula’s, Fritz’s and Keys’s opponents were all hungrier than they were, and may have felt like they had a little less to lose playing an American in Cincinnati. Magda Linette was basically a better, more aggressive version of Pegula. Elena Rybakina, perhaps inspired by her recent reunion with her longtime coach, played with more grit than usual in making a second-set comeback past Keys. And Fritz’s foe, 118th-ranked Terence Altmane, flat out took it to him.

Onward to New York for all of them. For the rest of us left in Cincy, the business end of the tournament, and hopefully more good weather, awaits.