Tommy Paul upsets top seed Alexander Zverev at Cincinnati Open

MASON — The man to beat at the Cincinnati Open is out.

Germany’s Alexander Zverev, the ATP’s No. 2 ranked player and the No. 1 seed at the Cincinnati Open, was upset 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4 by No. 18 Tommy Paul in the fourth round of the Cincinnati Open on Thursday, Aug. 19.

In a match that lasted two hours and 50 minutes, Paul overcame a match point in the second set and an early break in the third set to get the job done.

Prior to this year, Paul had not made it past the third round of the Cincinnati Open, and now he is in the quarterfinals. It’s his second Masters 1000 quarterfinal of 2026, after he made quarters of the Miami Open earlier in the year.

Zverev, the 2021 Cincinnati Open champion, has not advanced to the quarterfinals in Mason since 2023. He beat Paul in their most recent match prior to Thursday at the 2025 Australian Open: Paul last defeated Zverev at 2022 Indian Wells.

Paul suffered a break in the fifth game of the first set, which he went on to lose without notching a break point of his own. He also withstood seven aces from Zverev, who is arguably one of the best servers in the ATP.

The second set was a stalemate, with both players holding and forcing a tiebreak. A rain delay interrupted the match as Zverev led 4-3, stopping play for about an hour. Once the rain stopped, Zverev had a match point while leading 6-5 in the tiebreak, but Paul won the next three points to force a decider.

Zverev once again took a lead in the third set, breaking Paul 40-0 in the fifth game to take a 4-2 lead. However, Paul followed that up by playing his best returning of the match to break Zverev: a dropshot volley to force break point, before showing off strong defense in the point that brought the decider to 4-3.

Paul broke Zverev again to take a 5-4 lead in the third; a game that included Zverev’s only double fault of the match and a backhanded winner from Paul to win the match. Paul then served out the final game to clinch the upset.

Up next, Paul will face No. 7-seeded Flavio Cobolli in the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, Zverev was scheduled to play doubles with Brazil’s Marcelo Melo on Champions’ Court later in the day.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Tommy Paul upsets top seed Alexander Zverev at Cincinnati Open