The Cincinnati Open has seen many of the high-profile names advance to the fourth round stage, with players like Jannik Sinner preparing to stake their claim for a quarter-final place.
Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Taylor Fritz have all advanced to the fourth round relatively comfortably, aside from Alcaraz’s scare against Damir Dzumhur in the second round.
Other lesser-known players, such as Terence Atmane, have shocked the Cincinnati Open crowds by defeating higher-ranked players on their way to the fourth round.
Two players who have struggled all year continued to suffer in Cincinnati, as both competitors lost before the fourth round stage.
The pair have since been branded ‘serial losers in the early stages’ of tournaments due to their poor form in 2025.
David Law says Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas have become ‘serial losers in early stages’ of tournaments
Both Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas have struggled for form during the 2025 ATP season.
The pair have plummeted down the rankings. Medvedev, a former world number one, is currently ranked 15 in the world, while Tsitsipas, formerly world number three, is ranked 29.
Both players have struggled on and off the court, with Tsitsipas re-hiring his father after ending a two-month partnership with Goran Ivanisevic, and Medvedev only winning one Grand Slam match the entire year.
They both continued to falter at the Cincinnati Open. Tsitsipas lost in the third round to unseeded Benjamin Bonzi, while Medvedev was defeated by Adam Walton at the first hurdle.
Their issues were recently discussed by tennis journalists Matt Roberts, Catherine Whitaker and David Law on The Tennis Podcast.
Tennis journalist Matt Roberts said: “Again different reasons, but kind of the same overarching take that neither of them are the players they used to be and it’s hard to see them getting back up to that point again given the new talent that’s emerged since their decline and given just the eye test when you watch them play now.
“Medvedev is the one who I saw here against Adam Walton, and he’s already lost nine matches this year against players outside of the top 50. The last time he lost that many was 2017. Most in a year since then had been five.
“So just look at the numbers and the sort of players that are beating Medvedev: it points to a pretty steep decline, and last year we talked about it with his game and how his serve wasn’t as threatening. How he was struggling to make impacts in the court with his shots.
“But he kept having good Slam results. His slam results last year were actually really good and they sort of propped him up. Well this year the slam results have been really poor, and the general form on the tour has been poor, and this is where we are now with Daniil Medvedev, who is just constantly, for me, on upset watch, but it’s no longer an upset.
“That’s how I go into every tournament now, thinking about him and thinking about Tsitsipas as well.
“They’re big names still in the sport. I’m kind of drawn to their matches because there is a part of me that thinks ’okay these two have been such good players, let’s see.’ But inevitably they’re losing early and it’s not a surprise now.”
BBC commentator David Law added: “I just feel like they’re serial losers in early stages now to people that would never have got near them, and I do think aura is part of that as well.
“It’s not just the basics of your forehands and your backhands. I mean, I think you could look at all of them and think that they might say ‘well I’m not doing this as well, I’m not doing that as well.’
“But they are not carrying themselves in quite the way they used to and the opponents are not looking at them in the way they used to. They’re thinking, if I hang around here, I’ve got a chance.”
Daniil Medvedev has not won an ATP Tour title since 2023
At the start of 2023, Daniil Medvedev was in the form of his life.
The Russian star won five ATP Tour titles in the first half of the year, including two Masters 1000 triumphs in Miami and Rome.
However, since winning the 2023 Italian Open, Medvedev has failed to win another title.
He has reached three finals since, at Los Cabos in 2023, Monte-Carlo in 2024 and Halle in 2025.
On the other hand, Stefanos Tsitsipas has continued to prove his title winning capabilities, having captured his 12th ATP Tour title at the 2025 Dubai Tennis Championships.
