Cincinnati Open 2026 Day Three Recap

The seeds finally entered the fray in Cincinnati, and it didn’t take long for the draw to blow up.

Novak Djokovic suffered a big upset, falling in three sets to Thiago Agustín Tirante after struggling physically in the tough Ohio heat, while Rafael Jódar somehow escaped from 5-1 down in the deciding set to continue his rise.

Elsewhere, Alexander Zverev avoided back-to-back early Masters exits by recovering against Cameron Norrie in a match that finished after 2 am due to some earlier rain delays.

Still, it only disrupted play for a couple of hours, so if the expanded format was supposed to prevent late-night finishes and improve scheduling, it certainly wasn’t evident here.

Here’s how day 3 panned out.

Day Three Cincinnati Open Round of 64 Results

Key Match Recap

Thiago Agustín Tirante def. Novak Djokovic 2-6, 6-4, 6-4

The biggest shock of the tournament so far came as Thiago Agustín Tirante produced the best win of his career, battling back to defeat a physically compromised Novak Djokovic.

I had my doubts about how well Novak would play here, but he looked in complete control after taking the opening set.

However, the Serbian’s movement and energy levels visibly declined as the heat and humidity took their toll. He required lengthy treatment early in the second set and, despite repeatedly escaping trouble on serve, could no longer dictate rallies in his usual fashion.

Credit to Tirante, though. Plenty of players would have become frustrated after Djokovic saved multiple break points and looked physically dead only to pick up his level again, but the Argentine stuck to his game plan, kept believing and finally earned the breakthrough before serving out the victory with remarkable composure.

Djokovic later revealed he’s been struggling with an ongoing health condition that is exacerbated by hot, humid conditions that has impacted him over the last few years.

I assume we will only hear the specifics post-retirement, but it’s the first time he’s mentioned an illness directly rather than alluding to issues as he has in previous press conferences.

Rafael Jódar def. Denis Shapovalov 7-5, 4-6, 7-5

Rafael Jódar somehow escaped from the brink to continue his form from Montreal.

The Spaniard looked beaten when Shapovalov raced into a 5-1 lead in the deciding set and even held match point, but Jódar refused to panic. He absorbed the pressure, waited for Shapovalov’s level to dip and reeled off six consecutive games to steal victory in dramatic fashion.

Jódar’s mental game for a 19-year-old is highly impressive, and he doesn’t really seem to get flustered, which is why he’s on the brink of the top 10. If he can stop breaking shoelaces every 5 minutes, he’ll be even better.

Shapovalov will obviously wonder how he let this one get away after controlling large parts of the third set, but he’s always been a streaky type player and against Jódar you really do have to finish the job.

Alexander Zverev def. Cameron Norrie 3-6, 6-3, 6-3

Alexander Zverev avoided another early Masters exit by recovering from a slow start against Cameron Norrie in a match that went past 2 am. Not sure how that’s possible in a two-week Masters tournament, but here we are.

Norrie deserved the opening set with his usual relentless intensity, but once Zverev settled, the German gradually took control of the baseline exchanges, and his superior weight of shot eventually told.

It was hardly vintage stuff from the top seed, but after his shock Montreal defeat, simply getting through was probably the main goal. He remains unbeaten against Norrie, improving to 8-0 in their head-to-head.

Other Matches of Note

Tommy Paul edged a high-quality contest against Hubert Hurkacz, recovering after losing the second-set tie-break to close out a 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-3 victory.

Terence Atmane continued his Cincinnati campaign by beating 26th seed Tomás Martín Etcheverry in straight sets and now earns another crack at Alexander Zverev.

Adolfo Daniel Vallejo’s decent North American swing continued with another impressive win, comfortably dispatching 15th seed Valentin Vacherot 6-3, 6-3.

Alex de Boulter survived a scare against qualifier Quentin Halys, recovering from a set down before squeezing through a deciding tie-break.

Jakub Menšík and Jiří Lehečka both needed three sets to advance, while Arthur Fils, Alexander Blockx and Rinky Hijikata all progressed comfortably.

Highlights

Cincinnati Open Day Four Round of 64 Matches