Cilic advances as Tsonga upsets Khachanov

Yet to hit top form this year, Marin Cilic battled through the second round of the Citi Open.

July 31, 2019

Marin Cilic claimed a much-needed win in the Citi Open second round, while Jo-Wilfried Tsonga caused an upset on Tuesday.

Cilic, yet to hit top form this year, battled past Marius Copil 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-4) to reach the last 16 at the ATP 500 event in Washington.

The Croatian sixth seed and 2014 US Open champion improved to just a 12-10 win-loss record this year thanks to the hard-fought victory.

The only seed to fall on Tuesday was Karen Khachanov, who went down to Tsonga.

Tsonga served 13 aces in a 6-4 2-6 7-5 victory over Khachanov, the second seed losing to the Frenchman for the third time in as many meetings.

Upset Alert

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga upsets No. 2 seed @karenkhachanov and advances to the quarterfinals at @CitiOpen #USOpenSeries | @tsonga7 pic.twitter.com/1Zgpg8KhWn

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) July 31, 2019

Daniil Medvedev, Kyle Edmund and Frances Tiafoe joined Cilic and Tsonga in the third round.

Medvedev eased past wildcard Bjorn Fratangelo 6-3 6-4, Edmund crushed Lloyd Harris 6-1 6-4 and Tiafoe was too good for Alexander Bublik 6-1 7-6 (7-5).

Meanwhile, Jack Sock’s wait for a first singles win of the year continues after losing 7-5 6-3 to Jordan Thompson in the first round.

Nick Kyrgios sent down 15 aces on his way to a 7-5 6-4 win over qualifier Thai-Son Kwiatkowski, Reilly Opelka edged Christopher Eubanks 6-4 7-6 (7-3) and Yoshihito Nishioka was untroubled by Dan Evans in a 6-4 6-1 victory.