Pegula, Shelton, Tiafoe reach Cincinnati singles QFs

Three Americans are through to the last eight in Cincinnati after Jessica Pegula, Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe advanced in Friday's singles play. With Shelton and Tiafoe both into the quarterfinals, it marks the second time in three years that a pair of U.S. men reached that stage at the ATP Masters 1000, after Taylor Fritz and John Isner in 2022.

Pegula won two matches Friday to kickstart her Cincinnati campaign in style, coming from behind to dismiss Karolina Muchova, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, before beating fellow American Taylor Townsend, 6-2, 6-3.

The 12th-seeded Shelton knocked off Hungary's Fabian Maroszan, 6-4, 6-3, to advance to his second Masters 1000 quarterfinal. The 21-year-old, who also reached that stage last season in Shanghai, will next face Alexander Zverev on Saturday. Tiafoe closed Friday evening's play after 1 a.m. local time by beating Jiri Lehecka, 6-4, 6-7(10), 7-6(5), on his sixth match point.

Pegula's double duty

Toronto champion Pegula extended her winning streak to seven matches by opening her Cincinnati campaign with a successful double shift. The sixth seed clicked into gear after losing the opening set against Muchova, rebounding to win four convincing sets in a row.

Following a slow start to the 2024 season, Pegula has won titles in Berlin (grass) and Toronto (hard) this summer. After switching surfaces from clay to grass and back to clay this summer, culminating in her appearance for Team USA at the Paris Olympics, Pegula is happy to be back in a rhythm on the North American hard courts.

"You're playing on hard courts the rest of the year, you get to prep and train," she said, discussing her varied schedule. "So I think it's definitely sped that whole thing up a little bit where my year has turned around a little bit."

Shelton sets Zverev showdown, Tiafoe works late

After beginning his Cincinnati campaign with four straight tiebreaks, winning three, Shelton has widened his winning margin in his last three frames.

The American saved a match point in a 6-7(6), 7-6(7), 6-3 victory against Tomas Martin Etcheverry and made the most of his new life in the tournament with a decisive victory against Marozsan one day later. Shelton hit eight aces and broke the Hungarian four times, though it was not all smooth sailing on center court.

"It was a really rough start of the match, pretty windy, and it felt like every ball off his racquet was coming really, really fast,' the American said. "He was hitting some nukes and it took me a little while to speed up and adjust, but once I got rolling in the second set I started to feel really confident.

"On a court like this, when I get a lead or start feeling my game really well, I think that it's tough to slow me down."