Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek, the top seeds at the Cincinnati Open, emerged victorious in their respective opening matches on Wednesday. However, Swiatek faced a tough challenge from French qualifier Varvara Gracheva in the second round.
Despite dominating the first set in just 22 minutes, WTA world number one Swiatek struggled to close out the match when leading 5-2 in the second set. Gracheva, ranked 62nd, saved five match points and capitalized on her own fifth set point to force a deciding set.