French qualifiers shock favorites at Cincinnati Masters

The world No. 1 in men’s tennis, Jannik Sinner, has advanced to the fourth round of the “Masters 1000” tournament in Cincinnati, which has a prize fund of over $9.1 million.

The Italian, who won the title last year, defeated Canada’s Gabriel Diallo 6-2, 7-6(6), CE Report quotes BTA.

Sinner started the match slowly, allowing an early break and falling behind 0-2 in games against the two-meter-tall Diallo. However, he quickly switched to a higher gear, winning six consecutive games to take the opening set 6-2 in 49 minutes.

The second set proved to be much more competitive, with no breaks of serve. This led to a tiebreak in which Diallo reached set point on his serve, but the Canadian faltered at that crucial moment, losing both of his next serves. That gave Sinner a match point, and the Italian made no mistake in converting it.

This was Sinner’s 23rd consecutive win on hard courts. In this century, only Roger Federer (three times), Novak Djokovic (four times), Andy Murray (once), and Rafael Nadal (once) have had longer winning streaks on this surface.

For a place in the quarterfinals, Sinner will face Frenchman Adrian Mannarino, who delivered one of the surprises of the night. The 37-year-old, who entered the main draw through the qualifiers, defeated 13th seed Tommy Paul of the USA 5-7, 6-3, 6-4. This is Mannarino’s first win over a top-20 player since he last beat Paul in November last year at the Paris Masters.

Also advancing to the fourth round in Cincinnati is America’s top player, Taylor Fritz. The world No. 4 beat Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego 7-6(4), 7-5. Fritz hit 13 aces, made 25 winners, and did not give Sonego a single break point.

In the next round, Fritz will face French qualifier Terence Atmane, who eliminated Brazil’s Joao Fonseca 6-3, 6-4 in just 79 minutes. Before this week, Atmane, ranked No. 136 in the world, had only one main-draw ATP match win in 2025.

Another surprise of the night was also delivered by a Frenchman. Benjamin Bonzi eliminated former world No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas with a 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-4 victory. Bonzi made one break in each of the three sets, with Tsitsipas managing to respond only in the first set, which he won in a tiebreak.

In the fourth round, Bonzi will face Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime.