MASON: France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga suffered a surprise defeat to qualifier Alex Bogomolov while Spain’s Rafa Nadal and world number one Novak Djokovic passed their second-round tests at the Cincinnati Open on Wednesday.
France’s Tsonga, a semi-finalist at Wimbledon, fell to the 28-year-old Florida-based, Moscow-born Bogomolov 6-3 6-4.
Bogomolov, who yet to win on the ATP Tour and ranked 50th, made a name for himself this year with a surprise win over Andy Murray in Miami and he now gets another shot at the Briton in the third round.
Djokovic moved his season record to 54-1 with a 6-2 6-3 victory over Ryan Harrison. The Serb now has a 30-0 record on hardcourts after recovering from an early break from 19-year-old Harrison.
Both Murray and Nadal suffered early exits at the Montreal Masters last week but there was little hint either would fall to the same fate on Wednesday.
Murray, the fourth seed, overcame a sluggish start to record a 6-4 6-1 win over Argentine David Nalbandian, setting up a third-round match against Bogomolov. World number two Nadal also put last week’s setback aside, beating French qualifier Julien Benneteau 6-4 7-5 in just over 90 minutes. The Spaniard won all three break points he gained in a comfortable display. (Agencies)