Ben Shelton couldn’t lose in Montreal. He couldn’t win in Cincinnati.
Three days after winning the title at the National Bank Open, the sixth-ranked player in the world lost his opening match at the Cincinnati Open on Sunday, falling to Portugal’s Jaime Faria 6-4, 6-4 in one of the final hardcourt tuneups before the U.S. Open.
Seeded eighth in Cincinnati, Shelton dropped his second service game to the Portuguese qualifier who ranks No. 79 in the world. Shelton had no shortage of opportunities to get his serve back, forcing nine break points in the first set. But Faria saved all nine.
Shelton, who has won four tournaments this season, broke Faria to take what looked like a commanding 4-1 lead at one point in the second set. But the 23-year-old Faria broke the fellow 23-year-old in back-to-back service games to suddenly lead 5-4 and serve for the match.
Faria lost just one point in the game to take the win.
“In these moments, you got to take it all in and just enjoy it,” Faria said after picking up the first victory over a top 10 opponent of his career. “It’s a very emotional moment for me and my team, and to do it here in front of an amazing crowd and against the home player at night and at an amazing venue just makes it a little more special.”
Faria will next face 27-year-old Adam Walton of Australia, a 6-4, 6-3 winner over 29th-seeded Ignacio Buse of Peru.
Among the other late matches Sunday, 17th-seeded Frances Tiafoe beat Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego 6-3, 6-4 to set up a round of 32 matchup with No. 16 seed Learner Tien, a 6-3, 7-6 (4) winner over Sebastian Baez of Argentina. Tien lost to Shelton in the semifinals in Montreal.
The rest of the top 10 players in action advanced, including No. 2 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada, who played for the first time in more than a month because of a back injury and downed Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 7-5.
Despite failing to convert on a pair of break opportunities in the second set, the No. 4-ranked player in the world relied on his seven aces in the match and won 66 of 111 points to close it out. He will next face Argentinian Juan Manuel Cerundolo in the round of 32.
Russian Andrey Rublev, seeded 13th, handled business against Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta 7-6 (5), 6-1, while countryman and fourth-seeded Daniil Medvedev, handled Argentina’s Marco Trungelliti 6-4, 7-5.
No. 6 seed Taylor Fritz controlled his match against fellow American Alex Michelsen, winning 6-3, 6-4. His 21 winners underscored his dominance. Australia’s Christopher O’Connell knocked out Norway’s Casper Ruud, who retired.
–Field Level Media
