Newly minted Toronto Masters champion Ben Shelton will open his account at the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Open against Camilo Ugo Carabelli after the Argentine defeated Kei Nishikori 7-5, 6-3 on Friday.
World No 7 Shelton arrived in the American Midwest on a private jet after winning his first Masters 1000 title in Toronto on Thursday night and will make his start after a first-round bye in the final major tune-up before the US Open begins on August 25.
The 47th-ranked Ugo Carabelli dominated 2014 US Open finalist Nishikori as the former top Asian in tennis succumbed to 42 unforced errors and lost serve five times.
The Japanese player was competing for the first time since retiring injured at Geneva in mid-May.
Ugo Carabelli has played his best on clay, reaching four semifinals on the dirt this season.
As Cincinnati fifth seed and with confidence still strong, the 22-year-old Shelton could be a formidable contender for a pre-Open title double.
"I hope that this (Toronto) week kick starts me and gets me more consistent with the type of tennis that I want to play day-in and day-out," he said in Canada.
"It's certainly going to push me to work harder. I feel like I have a good grasp now on the things that really work for me against guys who are playing some of the best tennis in the world, and the things that I need to continue to work on."
Back-to-back events running 12 days each might be a fitness wild card as the bloated schedules of the ATP-WTA tournaments become commonplace.
Fellow top 10 players including Novak Djokovic – who is skipping Cincinnati – Alex de Minaur and world No 1 Jannik Sinner have all come out in favour of the old school one-week tournament format.
Borna Coric, who was ranked 152nd when he won the title in 2022, fell at the first hurdle, a 6-3, 7-5 victim of American qualifier Emilio Nava.
Coric has lost all six of his ATP-level matches in 2025, winning his last in December at the United Cup in Australia.
GARCIA FIGHTS THROUGH
In WTA action, Caroline Garcia, the former top 10 player from France who has plans to retire this year, played for the first time since Roland Garros in May and beat Briton Sonay Kartal 5-7, 6-4, 6-3.
After needing more than two hours to prevail in a roller-coaster match, Garcia admitted that as she battled in the sweltering heat she had moments when she wondered why.
"For a couple of minutes that was going on in my head," she said. "It was so hot, so tough out there, I didn't play a lot of matches in the last couple of months. At the end of the first set I was exhausted.
"I felt like I let my opportunity go away, and it was a long way to the end of the match.
"But for some reason I got a lot of support from my team and the people here, and I wanted to try to the end," added Garcia, who has a wild card for the US Open, which will be her last tournament.
French compatriot Leolia Jeanjean also advanced with 7-5, 1-6, 6-4 win over Yulia Starodubtseva.
American Taylor Townsend handed compatriot Danielle Collins her fourth first-round loss here in five appearances, 6-4, 7-6 (7/2).