Wednesday 14 August 2019 15:48, UK
Kyle Edmund fell at the hands of Daniil Medvedev for the second time in six days as the Brit lost 6-2 7-5 in the opening round of the Cincinnati Masters.
Edmund, who was blown off the court 6-3 6-0 at the Rogers Cup, had an opportunity to take this latest contest to a decider but wasn't able to serve the second set out at 5-3 up.
Instead, Medvedev showed why he is enjoying a career-high ranking as he stormed through and won the final four games of the match.
Elsewhere on Tuesday, Stan Wawrinka won a see-saw contest against Grigor Dimitrov and continued to haunt his opponent in the first round of tournaments.
Wawrinka prevailed 5-7 6-4 7-6 (7-4) however the final scoreline only showed half the story as the Swiss player struggled to serve out the match.
Dimitrov was 5-1 down in the final set but clawed back to level - saving two match points in the process - and forced a tie-break decider.
In the tie-break, Wawrinka raced into a 4-0 lead and despite handing back two mini-breaks, steadied to close out a fifth successive win over Dimitrov with a 138mph ace.
Andrey Rublev surprised the 15th seed, Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-7 (7-4) 6-4 6-2 to set up a second-round meeting with Wawrinka.
Roger Federer has won seven titles in Cincinnati, more than any other player, and he started his quest for an eighth in a clinical fashion.
The 38-year-old spent just 61 minutes on court to secure the 6-3 6-4 win over Juan Ignacio Londero and also managed to brush aside the frustration of a rain delay,
Elsewhere in the draw, Novak Djokovic came through against Sam Querrey 7-5 6-1 and erased memories of the American stunning him in the third round of Wimbledon three years ago.
Djokovic, who won the tournament last year, was broken in the opening game of the match but re-grouped well to book his place in the third round after an hour and 18 minutes.
"The fact that I'm a reigning champion wasn't affecting me positively or negatively. There was just excitement to be back on the court competing because it's been quite a while since the Wimbledon final," said Djokovic after the match.
"But at the same time, I had the nervous start because I haven't played a match in four weeks. It took a while to adjust to his big game. I made three double faults in the opening game and didn't have the greatest of starts."
Djokovic will meet Spain's Pablo Carrenio Busta next while Federer faces the winner of the clash between Wawrinka and Rublev.
Wednesday's order of play will be headlined by Nick Kyrgios and Karen Khachanov taking to Centre Court.
Kyrgios, the champion in Washington, put down an impressive marker in the first round against Lorenzo Sonego and still felt that he has more to give. Khachanov had a bye.
Earlier in the day, Alexander Zverev will take on the qualifier Miomir Kecmanovic and is bidding to turn around his 0-4 record of matches played in Cincinnati.
The third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas will be taking on Jan-Lennard Struff with the conqueror of Andy Murray, Richard Gasquet encountering the lucky loser Federico Delbonis on Court 7.
