Andy Murray made quick work of Juan Monaco in the second round of the Western & Southern Open on Wednesday, winning 6-3, 6-2 to stretch his career-best winning streak to 19 matches. The top seed improved to 5-2 in his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry against Monaco and is now 47-6 on the year.

“It’s really humid here, quite different conditions to Rio,” said Murray, who is coming off a gold-medal performance at the Rio Olympics. “The court here is pretty fast. Rio was a lot slower than this. It took a bit of time to get into it, but I did all right.

“I did two short sessions yesterday and two short sessions today. I sometimes find that rather than doing one long session, if you’re going into new conditions, it’s a bit easier to do a couple of shorter sessions. I feel like I get my timing a bit quicker that way.”

Murray, who is top seed at an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event for the first time, was at his efficient best on Center Court. The Brit only lost four points after landing a first serve (20/24) and was clinical in the forecourt (8 of 9 net points won). He finished with more winners (15-11) and fewer unforced errors (17-20) than his opponent.

Monaco was taking to the court for the second time on the day, as he finished off Ivo Karlovic 6-4, 6-4 in a rain-delayed first-round match hours before facing Murray. The Argentine was firing on all cylinders against the towering Croatian, winning 82 per cent of points on his own delivery and neutralizing Karlovic’s vaunted serve (2/5 on break points). However, he was unable to find solutions against Murray, dropping serve four times to succumb in 77 minutes.

Murray’s next opponent will be Kevin Anderson, who upended No. 13 seed Richard Gasquet 6-2, 6-4 in 79 minutes. The South African hit 17 aces to no double faults and broke the Frenchman four times to score his third win in eight FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings with Gasquet.

Yuichi Sugita was a two-time winner on Wednesday. During the day session, he downed #NextGen star Alexander Zverev 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-2 in their first-round encounter. At night, the speedy Japanese saw off Nicolas Mahut 6-3, 7-5 to book a place in the last 16.

Rafael Nadal won his first ATP World Tour match since May, dismissing Pablo Cuevas in the second round of the Western & Southern Open on Wednesday. His 6-1, 7-6(4) win avenged a defeat to the Uruguayan in February to improve the Spaniard’s FedEx ATP Head2Head record between the pair to 3-1.

The 2013 champion had arrived in Cincinnati with hard-court matches under his belt, having claimed the Olympic doubles gold medal with Marc Lopez in Rio de Janeiro before falling in the bronze medal play-off to Kei Nishikori in the singles.

“I think I played well,” Nadal said. “I think I played a good match against a tough opponent in the first round for me for sure.

“After coming from Rio and after the marathon that I had, it’s a very important victory for me. So I’m very happy.”

Cuevas won the pair’s semi-final clash on clay in Rio de Janeiro en route to the title earlier in the season but this would mark their first meeting on hard courts. It was Nadal who made the quicker start of the two, breaking twice to race through the opening set in just 26 minutes.

Cuevas mounted more of a challenge in the second where he held break points in three of Nadal’s service games, including a set point at 5-4. Nadal held strong to force the tie-break and sealed the result on his first match point to set up a third-round meeting with Borna Coric, who downed fellow #NextGen player and No. 14 seed Nick Kyrgios.

The Spaniard later acknowledged the stabilising influence his support team had had through his many ups and downs. “Well, I always had a team spirit,” he said. 

“I always enjoyed playing more for a team than just myself. Even the same when I was a kid playing football.

“So always with my team I always had a great relationship. When we are on court it’s normal you have the feeling with them.”

Coric showed impressive resolve in beating Kyrgios 7-6(2), 4-6, 7-6(6). The Croatian teen was broken while serving for the match at 5-3 in the deciding set, then saved match point at 6-5 in the tie-break before beating Kyrgios for the first time in two FedEx Head2Head meetings. Coric struck 16 aces and saved five break points in the two-hour, 32-minute win. He upset Nadal in Basel in 2014, but the Spaniard got his revenge at the US Open the following year.

Eighth seed Dominic Thiem booked his first career win at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati on Wednesday. The 22-year-old Austrian won his first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting against Aussie qualifier John Millman 7-5, 6-1 to advance to the third round. He will next face ninth seed Gael Monfils, who broke Marcos Baghdatis six times to win 7-5, 6-0 in 71 minutes.

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Thiem, No. 9 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, won 80 per cent of his first-serve points and broke the 27-year-old Millman six times. The win improves his chances of reaching the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals at The 02 in London for the first time. He is currently in sixth place in the Emirates ATP Race To London.

The win also gives Thiem his first victory since 29 June when he beat German Florian Mayer in the first round at Wimbledon. Thiem lost his first-round match at the Generali Open in Kitzbuhel and retired after five games at the Rogers Cup because of a hip injury.

The Austrian leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry against Monfils 1-0, a three-set semi-final victory last year on clay at Konzum Croatia Open Umag. Monfils also has his eye on qualifying for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals for the first time. The Frenchman is in eighth place, just in front of Tomas Berdych.

Berdych, the No. 6 seed, set up a third-round meeting with Marin Cilic by downing Marcel Granollers 6-3, 7-6(4). It was Granollers’ second match of the day after the Spaniard beat Jiri Vesely in a rain-delayed first-round match. Cilic breezed past wild card Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 6-1 in under one hour. He trails the FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry against Berdych 4-6.

They are keen competitors on the court, and possibly even more so off it! We set the #NextGen stars against each other to try and catch as many Pokémon as they could in 15 minutes around the grounds of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati.

Nick Kyrgios, Taylor Fritz, Sascha Zverev, Borna Coric and Kyle Edmund took on the challenge, and they had a little help. Fans took part in a prize draw to have the chance to play Pokémon Go alongside some of their favourite tennis players.

Watch the video to see who will catch ‘em all!

The day before his debut at the Western & Southern Open, Rafael Nadal practised on Court 15 surrounded by thousands of fans who wanted to see the Spaniard prepare to face Pablo Cuevas in Cincinnati.

After the practice session, Francis Roig, one of Nadal’s coaches, spoke to ATPWorldTour.com. Roig assessed his pupil’s current form. The 30-year-old Nadal was forced to pull out of Roland Garros with a wrist injury.

“When he got injured, his form was good. He had improved a lot by winning Monte-Carlo and Barcelona. He was improving day-by-day,” Roig said of Nadal, who also reached the semi-finals in Madrid and Rome.

In Cincinnati, Nadal will try to regain his earlier momentum. He is scheduled to face Cuevas for the fourth time on Wednesday at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament. Nadal leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 2-1 but lost their most recent contest on the clay in Rio de Janeiro in February.

“It has been two months off, with not much preparation time,” Roig said. “Now is time to go step-by-step… He has been great mentally and has been moving well.”

Roig wants Nadal to leave Cincinnati with confidence for the remainder of the ATP World Tour season. The coach believes the 2013 Cincinnati champion can positively bounce back from his latest setback.

“He has been dealing with this for many, many years,” Roig said of Nadal’s past injuries. “Hopefully he can keep playing at his best. Nadal is still hungry. If there is someone who knows how to come back after injuries, it’s him. There is no doubt about it.”