Cincinnati Masters 1000: Royer Stuns, Muller Out in Opening Round

Two French players were on the courts this Friday during the first round of the Cincinnati Masters 1000. Coming through qualifying after wins against Juan Pablo Ficovich and Liam Draxl, the world No. 104 continued his run against Sebastian Ofner.

The Austrian, who had dropped to No. 141 in the world, used his protected ranking to enter the tournament but ran into the resilience of his opponent. With 20 winners—including 9 aces—and only 8 unforced errors, Royer found the resources to prevail after losing the first set (5-7, 6-3, 6-3).

The Frenchman, competing in his second Masters 1000 after playing in Toronto earlier this week, secured his first victory at this tournament level and earned a marquee second-round clash against Karen Khachanov, who was just a finalist at the Toronto Masters 1000.

However, it was already over for Alexandre Muller. The world No. 41 battled Jenson Brooksby but ultimately fell short. While the American led 7-6, 5-3, the Frenchman fought back by winning the last four games of the second set.

But Brooksby stayed in the match and managed to claim the final five games to advance to the second round (7-6, 5-7, 6-1 in 2 hours and 39 minutes). A wildcard entry, Brooksby will face another French player, Arthur Cazaux—a lucky loser who replaced his compatriot Arthur Fils in the draw—for a spot in the round of 16.