New balls please: Kyrgios marches on

Nick Kyrgios has eased into the third round of the Cincinnati Masters after beating Alexandr Dolgopolov in straight sets in an occasionally bizarre clash.

Nick Kyrgios.

Nick Kyrgios is into the third round in Ohio after beating Alexandr Dolgopolov in straight sets. (AAP)

Nick Kyrgios has fought back to beat Ukraine's Alexandr Dolgopolov and advance to the third round of the Cincinnati Masters.

Kyrgios recovered from dropping an early break in the first set to win 6-3 7-6 (8-6) in a match which saw both players bemused to learn they had been serving with women's balls for six points.

While the balls used on the men's and women's tour generally have the same size and pressure, the men usually use extra-duty felt to slow the speed of the ball down while the women use regular-duty balls which have a different logo.

It was Dolgopolov who initially noticed the telltale red marking before alerting the umpire. Kyrgios then noticed a ball in his possession was the same before realising it wasn't just one.

"What are you guys doing," the Australian was heard to ask. "Christ almighty."

Kyrgios had started strongly on serve but soon found himself down 3-1 in the first set after double-faulting to gift Dolgopolov the first break of the match.

The world No.23 then immediately returned the favour and didn't drop another game to take the opening set and next faces unseeded Croatian Ivo Karlovic.

Elsewhere on Wednesday, top-seeded Rafael Nadal accounted for Richard Gasquet 6-3 6-4 to set up a round of 16 showdown with Spanish countryman Albert Ramos-Vinolas.

Nadal had beaten Gasquet in all 14 previous meetings and that never looked like changing as the Frenchman could not break his served once.

Fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev was the day's biggest casualty after he lost 4-6 6-3 6-4 to American wildcard Frances Tiafoe.

"These are wins that definitely can change your career the right way," Tiafoe said.

Zverev won back-to-back titles in Washington and Montreal, leaving him little time to rest.

"I'm completely dead right now," 20-year-old Zverev said.

"I have been dead for the past two days."

Seventh-seeded Grigor Dimitrov will meet former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro after beating Feliciano Lopez in straight sets.

Other players to advance to the next round were David Ferrer, Karen Khachanov, Pablo Carreno, Adrian Mannarino, Nikoloz Basilashvili, Jared Donaldson and Yuichi Sugita.


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Source: AAP


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