Tennis: Benjamin Bonzi, Terence Atmane and Adrian Mannarino to play in the last 16 of the Cincinnati Masters 1000

Benjamin Bonzi was the first Frenchman to qualify against the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas (29th) in three sets, (6-7[4], 6-3, 6-4) after a convincing victory in the second round already against the Italian Lorenzo Musetti (world number 10). The Nîmes player, full of confidence, who recorded his fifth victory against a player from the Top 30 this year, and will play for a place in the quarter-finals against the Canadian Félix Auger-Aliassime, who defeated Arthur Rinderknech, forced to withdraw, visibly exhausted by the stifling heat of the city.

For his part, Terence Atmane quickly dominated the new Brazilian tennis star Joao Fonseca (18 years old, 52nd), 6-3, 6-4 in 1h19. The Boulogne-sur-Mer native, currently ranked 136th in the world, will achieve his best ranking at the end of the tournament at the age of 23, assured of reaching the top 100 for the first time in his career. In the next round, he will have to work hard to overcome the American Taylor Fritz, world number 4, knowing that he has never beaten a top 5 player.

The day also smiled on veteran Adrian Mannarino (37 years old), who needed 2 hours and 40 minutes to defeat another American, Tommy Paul, 28 years old, ranked 16th, in three sets (5-7, 6-3, 6-4), at the end of a tough match. "It could have gone either way, I hit a few lines, I was quite lucky at the end. I knew he hadn't played much lately, that he might not be feeling so good. I took my chance," the left-hander told the organizers. The 89th in the ATP has only won two matches against members of the Top 20 in the last 52 weeks, both against Tommy Paul.

Mannarino, who refuses to know the identity of his opponents in advance, will have the pleasant surprise of facing the Italian world number 1 Jannik Sinner in the next round. In the women's draw, Varvara Gracheva is the last survivor of the French clan. After her victory against the American Sofia Kenin (26 years old, 29th), in three sets (6-7[7], 6-3, 6-3), she will try to imitate her compatriots against Karolina Muchova in the third round, who defeated Caroline Garcia.