Day Four in Cincinnati brought an immediate shake-up in the bottom half of the draw, with Montreal champion Ben Shelton making a speedy exit and Casper Ruud retiring against qualifier Christopher O’Connell.

Shelton’s 6-4, 6-4 defeat to Jaime Faria was the headline result, although perhaps not the biggest surprise given the quick turnaround from his title run in Canada.

Elsewhere, Félix Auger-Aliassime made a solid return from injury by beating Stefanos Tsitsipas, João Fonseca continued his strong North American swing, and Daniel Mérida Aguilar once again looked completely at home on hard courts.

There were also routine wins for Taylor Fritz, Daniil Medvedev, Lorenzo Musetti and Learner Tien, while Brandon Nakashima carried his Montreal form into another comfortable victory.

Here’s a look at the key results and standout matches from Day Four in Cincinnati.

Day Four Cincinnati Open Round of 64 Results

Key Match Recap

Jaime Faria def. Ben Shelton 6-4, 6-4

Jaime Faria produced the biggest upset of the day, knocking out Montreal champion Ben Shelton in straight sets to claim the first Top 10 win of his career.

Shelton looked flat from the start, which wasn’t a huge surprise as it’s often the case that a title one week is followed by a let-down the next, and Faria took advantage immediately by breaking early in the opening set.

The second looked as though it might swing back towards the American when Shelton moved 4-1 ahead, but Faria reeled off five consecutive games to close out the match.

Shelton had plenty of chances, converting just one of 12 break points, but his level was nowhere near what we saw in Canada.

Does it show Shelton can’t deliver week-in, week-out consistency? Maybe, but he was probably not that invested in the tournament and is thinking about the US Open in a couple of weeks, where he’s surely in with a shot given the possible absence of Sincaraz and the general level these days.

Félix Auger-Aliassime def. Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 7-5

Felix Auger-Aliassime made an encouraging return after 40 days away from competition, defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets.

The Canadian had not played since Wimbledon after withdrawing from Montreal with a back injury, but he looked sharp for most of the contest, taking the opening set comfortably before things became more complicated late in the second.

Auger-Aliassime twice surrendered break advantages and failed to serve out the match at 5-4 as the wind picked up, but he regrouped quickly and broke again before closing it out.

Considering the lack of matches, it was a very solid return against a decent enough opponent.

I’m not sure what most guys think when they see Tsitsipas on the draw sheet these days; 5 years ago you’d have buckled up for a tough one, now pretty much all comers must fancy their chances.

João Fonseca def. Botic van de Zandschulp 6-4, 7-6(2)

João Fonseca continued his strong North American hard-court swing with a straight-sets win over Botic van de Zandschulp.

The Brazilian made another slightly sluggish start, falling behind an early break, but quickly recovered and gradually began overpowering the Dutchman from the baseline.

Fonseca also let a second-set advantage slip, allowing Van de Zandschulp back into contention, but the tie-break was completely one-sided as the 19-year-old raced through it 7-2.

Daniil Medvedev def. Marco Trungelliti 6-4, 7-5

Daniil Medvedev avoided the sort of early exit that has become increasingly common for him this season, defeating qualifier Marco Trungelliti in two competitive sets.

It wasn’t spectacular, but Medvedev did enough at the important moments and secured his first Cincinnati victory since 2023.

The win also marked his 100th Masters 1000 victory on hard courts, not bad for the self-proclaimed hard court specialist.

His next match against Brandon Nakashima should tell us considerably more about his level which I am not really convinced of.

Daniel Mérida Aguilar def. Zizou Bergs 6-3, 6-2

Daniel Mérida Aguilar’s excellent run continued with another comfortable victory, this time against 30th seed Zizou Bergs.

The Spaniard has barely had time to process his Montreal quarter-final run, but he has carried that confidence straight into Cincinnati, dominating Bergs from the baseline and never allowing the Belgian to establish himself.

He now faces Taylor Fritz, which should provide a much sterner examination of just how far his hard-court game has come.

Other Matches of Note

Taylor Fritz made a straightforward start by beating Alex Michelsen 6-3, 6-4, levelling their head-to-head at 2-2 after losing their first two meetings.

Learner Tien continued his excellent form from Montreal with a 6-3, 7-6(4) win over Sebastián Báez and now faces Frances Tiafoe, who comfortably defeated Lorenzo Sonego.

Nuno Borges produced a good straight-sets victory over Francisco Cerúndolo, while Brandon Nakashima maintained his form by beating Aleksandar Kovacevic 6-2, 7-5.

Michael Zheng claimed another notable result by knocking out Ugo Humbert, and Juan Manuel Cerúndolo survived a marathon against Arthur Rinderknech, winning two consecutive tie-breaks to reach the third round.

Highlights

Cincinnati Open Day Five Round of 32 Matches

- Alexander Zverev (1) vs Terence Atmane

- Tommy Paul (18) vs Adolfo Daniel Vallejo

- Rafael Jodar (12) vs Alejandro Tabilo (22)

- Alexander Blockx (28) vs Flavio Cobolli (7)

- Thiago Agustín Tirante vs Martín Landaluce

- Rinky Hijikata (WC) vs Jakub Mensik (14)

- Jiri Lehecka (9) vs Arthur Fils (21)

- Arthur Fery (32) vs Alex de Minaur (5)