Defending champion Coco Gauff suffered a defeat in her opening match at the Cincinnati Open, losing to Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva 6-4, 2-6, 6-4. Gauff, who became the youngest Cincinnati champion last year at 19 and went on to win the U.S. Open, couldn’t maintain her lead this time, allowing Putintseva to secure the victory in their fourth career meeting.

Putintseva, known for defeating top-ranked Iga Swiatek at Wimbledon, will now face Spain’s Paula Badosa in the third round. Meanwhile, the women’s No. 4 seed, Elena Rybakina, was also eliminated by Leylah Fernandez 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4. On the other hand, No. 3 Aryna Sabalenka started her campaign with a win over Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto 6-3, 6-4.

In other matches, Taylor Townsend continued her impressive performance this summer by defeating No. 9 seed Daria Kasatkina 6-1, 2-6, 6-1. Townsend is set to face either fellow American Jessica Pegula or Karolina Muchova in the next round of the tournament.

In the men’s category, No. 12 seed Ben Shelton outlasted Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry in a tough match which ended 6-7 (6-8), 7-6 (9-7), 6-3. American Brandon Nakashima also secured a win over France’s Arthur Fils 7-5, 7-6 (7-3) and is now scheduled to play against No. 6 seed Andrey Rublev.

The action-packed day also saw No. 2 seed Carlos Alcaraz in a match against Gael Monfils, while fifth-seeded Hubert Hurkacz advanced to the round of 16. However, No. 8 Grigor Dimitrov fell to Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, and Britain’s Jack Draper defeated No. 9 Stefanos Tsitsipas 3-6, 6-4, 7-5, causing his exit from the tournament.