It's been a busy week in Cincinnati so far and there certainly has been no shortage of drama too with probably the biggest three matches so far being France's Lucas Pouille knocking out Andy Murray in three sets, David Goffin overcoming the rising new Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas and Nick Kyrgios managing to limp through in three sets against Denis Kudla.

Federer was also in action to the delight of the Cincinnati crowd.


Nadal Withdraw's At the Last Minute

Many fans would have been hoping for a final between Nadal and Federer, they will have to wait longer.

But perhaps what is a major talking point above tennis itself is the fact that Nadal pulled out of the tournament at the last minute. Nadal wrote on twitter:

Nadal wrote on Twitter. "No other reason than personally taking care of my body and trying to keep as healthy as I feel now."

I can't help but think as many will that this is a sneaky shot at Federer who pulled out of the Rogers cup at the last minute leaving Nadal to a free lunch. Whilst Nadal would have welcomed his first hard court title win of the season it would be understandable if he was annoyed at Federer leaving him to maintain the tournaments reputation on his own.

3 Brits Out in Quick Succession

Norrie Cracks Under Copil's Huge Serve

Probably most disappointing for me was new Brit on the block Cameron Norrie bowing out to Marius Copil in the qualification rounds. Copil who coincidentally had given Murray a nightmare of a game two weeks ago in Washington has a serve speed of up to 145 mph and can be hard to break if he's in the mood to serve big. Norrie is a promising young british player with a well rounded game who I believe can surpass Kyle Edmund due to his more consistent style of play, but this week he could not find his way past the Romanian's humongous serving power bowing out in three sets.

Murray Out Classed by Pouille

Getting back to Andy Murray's defeat as he squared off against France's Lucas Pouille. This is a match he should have won on paper given Pouille's very sketchy year and results. It looked like he would do just that when he came back to win the second set 6-1 against Pouille. But unfortunately he let his guard down in the first game of the third set and never managed to break back for the entire set, quiet the anti-climax.

Murray was again guilty of allowing Pouille to dictate the flow of much of the match by hitting too passively and shallow which allowed Pouille to come in and hit way too many easy winners. The two time Wimbledon champion is going to have to adjust his game if he wants a chance of getting back to where he was before his hip injury, his play has become way too entrenched in defense which cannot be the only part of your game if you want a chance of winning an ATP 1000 Masters never mind a grand slam.

Then There Was None...Edmund's Slippery Fall from Grace Continues

Then of course literally two hours ago Kyle Edmund went down to Denis Shapovalov in straight sets as his ability to hold serve against the quick, explosive young Canadian was all too apparent in both sets. Edmund had to come back from 4 games down and two breaks of serve in the second set to even make the match look competitive, but after so much hard work to get himself back on level terms in the second, he disappointingly conceded another service game to loose 6-4, 7-5. 

There is no doubt Shapovalov has the beating of Edmund now. 

They have played each other 5 times in 2 years and the Canadian is now 4-1 in head to head matches. 

This will  leave a psychological scar on Edmund that will be hard to heal. The hard hitting Brit clearly needs to sort out his service game, he has been leaking them all over the place in the latter half of this year. 

This of course takes nothing away from Shapovalov who looked everything Edmund did not - both consistent and confident. Shapovalov's win potentially sets up a 'Clash of Canada' in round 3 against Milos Raonic. 

Kygrios Doesn't Want to Play...But Win's Anyway


Ok getting beyond the British bias in my tennis coverage Nick Kygrios who has been struggling all year with a knee injury came into his first match in Cincinatti looking the clear favourite against America's Denis Kudla. Kudla has been making headway into the top 100 ATP rankings having had a successful challenger year. He's a very consistent ground hitter but should not be someone Kygrios deems a threat. 

Ever the Showman

In classic Kygrios style he started the match with a disinterested attitude as he used his supreme service power to get him through his own service games but instead of wanting to break Kudla he seemed more interested in show boating to the crowd. 

This lead to a tie break where he conceded the first set to Kudla who at times in the first set was bemused by some of Kyrgios's on court antics including a tricky drop shot he played between his legs (great shot but not needed!).

Watch: A Knee Injury Can't Dampen Kygrios's Eagerness to Entertain the Crowd

By the second set it was clear to see Kygrios was struggling with an aggravated knee and if he was going to come through this match it wouldn't be through working the back of the court for too long. He started to turn the pressure up on Kudla towards the end of the second set and gave himself an easy break opportunity in the last game when he went love 40 up. He took the opportunity the time of asking to draw the match level 1-1.

The third set went by with no particularly memorable swing points leading to a dramatic final tie break where it took Kygrios 6 match points to finish Kudla off whilst saving one against him. If there was ever a match won by Kygrios with virtually no interest and no effort it was this one for sure.

Sock Sock's Himself: Dead Man Walking

If you thought Kyrgios was somewhat lackadaisical with his performance Jack Sock went one better atleast in his demeanour as by the third set he looked a dead man walking against Korea's number one tennis star Hyeon Chung. Having gone a set up he suddenly capitulated in the second set dropping all but one game to loose the second 1-6. He was clearly still suffering from the ankle injury that saw him pull out of Atlanta this year. In the third set he simply did not chase down what in normal health would have been many returnable shots by Chung. Sock bowed out in disappointing but understandable fashion.

Nothing to See Here...Except Roger Federer

There's no doubt with Roger Federer's attendance at this years Cincinatti Master's it's going to be a far more exciting and intriguing tournament for fans, especially concerning who he may meet along the way - he will have some tough opponents, many of whom have beaten him in the past. (namely Del Potro, Anderson, Goffin to name a few). But his first match drifted by with little substance other than seeing the Swiss legend himself  perform just a little for the crowd. 

Federer saw off the minimal threat of Germany's Peter Gojowczyk in two rudimentary sets. There was never going to be an upset here, Gojowczyk although a top 50 player has been struggling for form this year as well as suffering a hip injury and put up a decent enough display to allow the crowd to see enough of Federer in return. If there was one criticism about this match it was the fact that it was a somewhat subdued affair. It didn't help that Gojowczyk conceded his service game in the first game of the second set. This sucked the life out of the set meaning there was not even the slightest of chances the German would take it the distance. Federer looked sharp enough against the German but there was nothing to too eyebrow raising about his game.

Match of the Day: Goffin Gets Revenge on the Greek Freak

David Goffin who has had a rather frustrating year finally put in a stellar performance against rising Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas beating him in 2 sets to draw level with the Roger's Cup finalist 2-2 in head to head matches.

It was probably the performance of last nights matches, particularly considering Goffin's general form and the fact that he was three set points down in the first set before he racked up 5 stunning points in a row to save those set points. Tsitsipas was clearly looking exhausted as he conceded his own service game straight after. Goffin who is an incredible baseline player can be difficult to hit through, even more so than many out and out defends such as Djokovic and Murray. This is because his own ground strokes are more aggressive than the former two whilst his mobility as a smaller guy is super agile and quick.

All images used here are courtesy of and copyright to the ATP World Tour website.