Mason, Ohio – Eighteen-year-olds Leylah Fernandez and Carlos Alcaraz have advanced into the Western & Southern Open main draw, both winning a pair of straight set matches this weekend to qualify.
Fernandez dropped just two games in defeating Romania’s Elena-Gabriela Ruse to reach her second W&S Open main draw while Alcaraz collected the win against Belarus’ Ilya Ivashka to clinch a spot in his first Cincinnati main draw. Canada’s Fernandez squares off against American Allison Riske in the main draw’s first round, with Spain’s Alcaraz setting up an opening matchup with Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego.
Su-Wei Hsieh, less than a month removed from winning the Wimbledon doubles title, did not lose a game in the first set and cruised her way to the women’s main draw with a victory over Cleveland native Lauren Davis. Italy’s Jasmine Paolini defeated 2019 US Open quarterfinalist Donna Vekic to punch her ticket to the main draw.
A pair of qualifiers advanced with 6-0 third sets on Sunday. Shuai Zhang, a Wimbledon quarterfinalist in 2019, defeated Marie Bouzkova while Caroline Garcia earned her seventh straight Cincinnati appearance with her win over Fiona Ferro.
Tommy Paul was victorious in an all-American duel against Tennys Sandgren in a two-hour, thirty-three minute, three set battle, while fellow American Marcos Giron climbed his way into the main draw with his victory over Germany’s Dominik Koepfer. Two-time Major finalist Kevin Anderson saw his way into the field with 7-6(3) 6-4 win over American Steve Johnson.
France’s Richard Gasquet will make his 15th Western & Southern Open appearance, which is now tied for third-most Western & Southern Open appearances in the Open Era, following a three-set win over Spain’s Jaume Munar. Gasquet advances to face two-time champion Andy Murray on Monday night, a rematch of a 2019 first round match in Cincinnati.
Sunday’s recap is provided by www.wsopen.com.
These are Alex Eicher’s photos of matches on Sunday, August 15.
