SCARES, BUT TOP SEEDS SURVIVE

Both Sinner and Swiatek look forward after overcoming qualifiers in the second round

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Cincinnati Open top seeds Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek both secured opening triumphs on Aug 14 over qualifiers, with Swiatek forced to escape an attempted second-round ambush by France's Varvara Gracheva.

The Polish women's tennis world No. 1 needed six match points and more than two hours to escape with a 6-0, 6-7 (8-10), 6-2 victory to start the last major event before the US Open.

Men's No. 1 and top seed Sinner fought off eight break points, as he began the tournament with a 6-4, 7-5 triumph over American qualifier Alex Michelsen.

Swiatek ran away with the opening set in 22 minutes but could not close out when leading 5-2 in the second.

The 62nd-ranked Gracheva saved five match points and converted on her own fifth set point to take the match into a third set.

Swiatek regained her poise to finally pull out the unexpectedly tight win to reach the third round.

"It was not easy to finish in the second set," the 23-year-old said.

"She started playing with freedom, with nothing to lose.

"I backed down a bit and she used her chances. I'm happy I got more proactive in the third set and played more intense." Swiatek said she kept her self-belief.