Pouille Ousts Two-Time Champ Murray

It looked like former World No. 1 Andy Murray would take a 5-0 lead in his FedEx ATP Head2Head series against Lucas Pouille on Monday when he stormed through the second set of their first-round match at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati.

But No. 16 seed Pouille bounced back to earn his first victory against the Scot, triumphing 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 after one hour, 53 minutes. It will be a confidence-boosting win for the Frenchman, who arrived in Ohio having won just five of his past seven tour-level matches. He will face the winner of Argentine Leonardo Mayer and #NextGenATP American Michael Mmoh for a spot in the third round.

It is Pouille's first victory in Cincinnati, having lost in his only previous appearance two years ago against Aussie Nick Kyrgios. Perhaps beating Murray will be the spark that helps the 24-year-old return to the form that helped him lift the trophy in Montpellier earlier this year, while also reaching the final in Dubai and Marseille. 

Pouille became the fifth active Frenchman to crack the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings on 19 March, joining Richard Gasquet, Gael Monfils, Gilles Simon and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. He is the French No. 1 at World No. 17. 

The Dubai resident was especially impressive on return, breaking Murray four times, and winning 42 per cent of return points in the match. He put plenty of pressure on the 45-time tour-level champion, going after his shots from the baseline to keep Murray from controlling the pace of play. Often it was Pouille moving forward to finish off the ground or at net into the open court, with Murray scrambling deep behind the baseline.

It appeared after the second set, when Murray lost just four service points, that he was back in command against a player to whom he had never lost a set. In fact, their closest set had been 7-5, with the rest finishing at a margin of 6-3 or greater. But Pouille capitalised on a Murray double fault to earn an immediate break in the third set, and he did not look back from there. Murray double-faulted on three of Pouille's break-point opportunities. 

Murray was competing in just his fourth tournament in 13 months as he continues his comeback from hip surgery, which he underwent in January. The 31-year-old had reached the quarter-finals at the Citi Open in Washington, D.C. in his most recent event. He triumphed in Cincinnati in 2008 and 2011.

Japanese star Kei Nishikori also advanced to the second round on Monday, beating #NextGenATP Russian Andrey Rublev 7-5, 6-3 in one hour, 32 minutes. He will next play 12th seed Diego Schwartzman or former World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka. 

Rublev challenged Nishikori with his powerful groundstrokes off the ground, but Nishikori used his great movement to nullify the aggression, claiming the final 11 points of the match. Nishikori will try to reach the Round of 16 for the third time in Cincinnati.

Did You Know?
Pouille has reached the semi-finals of two ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events, both on clay. He made the last four at last year's Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters and the 2016 Internazionali BNL D'Italia.