In a stunning upset in the second round of the 2025 Cincinnati Open on Sunday, Adam Walton, the world number 85 from Home Hill, Australia, upset Daniil Medvedev of Russia, the 2021 United States Open champion, 12th seed in Cincinnati, and 15th ranked player in the world, 6-7, 6-4, 6-1. The fact that Walton dominated the third set was stunning. He won six of the seven games, broke Medvedev twice, and won 26 of the total 40 points.
This was the second straight early exit for Medvedev in a Masters 1000 series event in North America. Medvedev lost in the third round of the Canadian Open in Toronto to another Australian in Alexei Popyrin of Sydney, by a score of 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. In fact, Medevedev was beaten in the early stages of Miami earlier this year too, as he was beaten by Jaume Munar of Spain, 6-2, 6-3 in the second round.
You could make the argument this was the biggest win of Walton’s tennis career. Yes, he reached the fourth round of the Miami Open, but he qualified as a lucky loser, got a bye to the second round, and did not beat a seeded opponent before being eliminated by American Taylor Fritz.
Walton is one of two Australian men left in the Cincinnati Open. The other is Popyrin. In the third round, Walton is facing Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic, the 22nd seed, and Popyrin is facing Andrey Rublev of Russia, the ninth seed. Lehecka has beaten Walton once before. That was in the first round of Adelaide in 2024 by a score of 6-1, 6-3. Meanwhile, Popyrin has beaten Rublev in two of three meetings. Rublev won the first match in Vienna in 2023, 7-5, 6-4. Popyrin won the last two matches–6-4, 6-4 in the second round of Monte Carlo in 2024, and 6-2, 6-4 in the final of Montreal in 2024.
