MASON, Ohio — Borna Coric spoiled Rafael Nadal’s return after a six-week hiatus, beating the Spanish star 7-6 (9) 4-6 6-3 at Wednesday night’s Western & Southern Open.
The winner of 22 Grand Slam championships, including two this year, had not played since July 6 after a abdominal tear forced him to withdraw from a semi-final match against Nick Kyrgios at Wimbledon. He was hoping to start putting the finishing touches to preparation for the upcoming US Open.
“With a week and a half until New York, it’s sad not to play here,” said Nadal. “I have to get into Grand Slam mode.”
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Second seed and third-placed Nadal, 36, showed no sign of the injury that plagued his serve the most. He hit 121 mph on a serve and needed several clumsy body movements to return some of Coric’s shots.
“I have to practice,” said Nadal. “I need to hit back better. I need days. It’s better to come back when you’ve spent some time out there and win your first match. I wasn’t ready enough to win the match today. The most important thing is to be healthy stay. It’s a difficult injury to treat. I have to take it one step at a time.”
The match lasted 2 hours, 51 minutes, not including a 1 hour, 25 minute rain delay in the first set.
In an all-English men’s second-round match, Cameron Norrie, in 11th place, beat three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Also, Taylor defeated Fritz Kyrgios 6-3, 6-2, and 19-year-old Joker Ben Shelton upset fifth-placed Casper Ruud. Shelton is the youngest American to defeat a top-five opponent since Andy Roddick beat No. 1 Gustavo Kuerten in 2001.
Sebastian Korda returned and defeated Frances Tiafoe 4-6 6-1 6-4 to advance to the third round in Cincinnati for the first time. He is among four American men to have made it to this stage of the tournament, the most since 2003 when there were five; He joins Fritz, Shelton and John Isner, his next opponent.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.