Dimitrov Pleased With Performance Cincinnati 2017
Dimitrov Pleased With Performance Cincinnati 2017
Aug182017
Britain’s Johanna Konta won a hard-hitting contest against Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova to reach the Cincinnati Open quarter-finals.
The seventh seed won 6-3 6-4 to reach the last eight for the first time, setting up a rematch of her Wimbledon quarter-final against Simona Halep.
Romanian second seed Halep beat Latvian 15th seed Anastasija Sevastova 6-4 6-3.
In the men’s event, top seed Rafael Nadal will play fellow Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas later on Thursday.
Bulgarian seventh seed Grigor Dimitrov beat Argentine Juan Martin del Potro for the first time in six attempts, coming through 6-3 7-5.
Konta, 26, did well to win a match that was far tougher than the straight-set scoreline suggests and break new ground in Cincinnati.
Five double-faults and a first-serve percentage of just 54% meant the Briton had to work harder than usual in her service games, with Cibulkova teeing off aggressively on the return.
Konta took the first set with two breaks of serve to one and looked to have the match well under control when she broke at the start of the second set.
However, Cibulkova refused to submit and had three break points for a 4-2 lead as a gripping set unfolded.
Konta clung on and grabbed her chance with a deep return on break point at 4-4 before serving out for a fine win, finishing with 24 winners to Cibulkova’s 10.
Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza saved three match points on her way to beating American Madison Keys for the first time in four meetings.
The Spanish fourth seed came through 6-4 3-6 7-6 (7-3) to set up a quarter-final against Russian eighth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, who beat Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2 6-4.
“You never knew who was going to win until the last point,” said Muguruza. “I had match points against me so it was really hard. I battled back and I’m glad things went my way.”
Sixth seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark saw off Australian qualifier Ashleigh Barty 6-4 6-2.
World number one Karolina Pliskova and fifth seed Elina Svitolina are among those in action later on Thursday.
Jared Donaldson recorded the biggest win of his career earlier this week at the Western & Southern Open when he upset World No. 14 Roberto Bautista Agut. On Thursday, the 20-year-old American achieved another milestone, advancing to his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 quarter-final by defeating Georgia’s Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-4, 7-6(4).
The Californian was 0-13 in Round of 16 matches entering the match, including last week’s defeat to Diego Schwartzman in Montreal when he led 6-0, 2-0, and had been denied by Basilashvili in the final round of Roland Garros qualifying in 2015 and 2016. He turned the page Thursday, putting pressure on his opponent’s serve and going two for 12 on break point chances. After falling behind a mini-break early in the second-set tie-break, he won the final three points to cement the one-hour, 36-minute victory.
Donaldson leads all #NextGenATP Americans with 28 career wins, and could next face 19-year-old Frances Tiafoe, who is tied for fourth on that list with seven following his victory over Coupe Rogers champion Alexander Zverev on Wednesday. Tiafoe plays countryman John Isner, the 2013 Cincinnati finalist, later in the day.
Donaldson is challenging for a place in the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals, and stood at eighth in the Emirates ATP Race to Milan entering Cincinnati. The tournament, to be held from 7-11, will feature the top 21-and-under players.
Watch Live On TennisTV
Watch Full Match Replays
Ferrer awaits winner of Thiem or Mannarino
David Ferrer is regaining his appetite for top-level tennis and the relentless drive that saw him rise to a career-high No. 3 in the Emirates ATP Rankings in August 2013. Close to a return to the Top 30, the veteran Spaniard beat his compatriot Pablo Carreno Busta 6-4, 6-4 on Thursday for a place in the Western & Southern Open quarter-finals – his first at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 level since the Rolex Paris Masters in November 2015.
The 2015 Cincinnati finalist, who has gone 11-2 since a Wimbledon third-round exit, will next face third-seeded Austrian Dominic Thiem or Adrian Mannarino of France on Friday.
Ferrer, who had lost five of his previous seven matches against fellow Spaniards, and No. 11 seed Carreno Busta both struggled for consistency in the early exchanges. But service breaks for Ferrer in the fifth game of the first set and at 1-1 in the second set proved to be enough for his 21st match win of a protracted season, which sparked into life with his 27th ATP World Tour title at the SkiStar Swedish Open (d. Dolgopolov) last month. Ferrer, playing closer to the baseline and quick to move up the court, struck 14 winners, while a forehand in the net from Carreno Busta – his 26th error – ended the 77-minute encounter.
Watch Live On TennisTV
Watch Full Match Replays
Players struggle in windy and hot conditions
Grigor Dimitrov recorded his first win in his sixth match against Juan Martin del Potro on Thursday for a place in the Western & Southern Open quarter-finals.
Seventh seed Dimitrov advanced to his eighth ATP World Tour Masters 1000 quarter-final (or better) with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over del Potro, who struggled due to the intense heat in the closing stages of the pair’s sixth meeting that lasted one hour and 39 minutes.
“He’s a tricky opponent… a super-experienced player,” said Dimitrov. “I definitely had to stay away a little bit from that forehand. I knew if I keep the ball low on his backhand side and just kind of work my way into the court, it would have been the right thing to do.I think I did this thing very, very well today. The short slice really made him very uncomfortable, and he was giving me a lot of short balls, so I could start moving him with my forehand. It was also a bit of a mind game, because we know our game pretty well.”
Dimitrov will now look to reach the Cincinnati semi-finals for the second straight year when he challenges Japan’s Yuichi Sugita. Dimitrov won their lone match at last year’s Masters 1000 tournament in Canada over three sets.
“He’s been playing really well,” said Dimitrov. “I watched quite a few of his matches… The conditions don’t really bother him. He’s going to be definitely a tough opponent to play. I don’t underestimate his ability to play good tennis. [When] you’re in the quarter-final of a Masters 1000 anything can happen. He’s pretty determined, and he’s pretty excited to play, so that makes him even more dangerous.”
Dimitrov got off to the best possible started by opening up a 3-0 lead against del Potro, who was unable to convert one break point on his Bulgarian opponent’s serve at 3-5, 30/40. Del Potro mirrored Dimitrov by winning the first three games of the second set and could not convert three set point chances at 5-4, before the Argentinean physically began to struggle. A doctor was called at the 6-5 changeover, with del Potro insisting he had to finish the match.
Dimitrov is now 31-14 on the season, which includes two ATP World Tour titles, and improves his chances of rising up from his current position of No. 9 in the Emirates ATP Race To London for a debut appearance at the Nitto ATP Finals, to be held at The O2 in London from 12-19 November. Del Potro, the 2012-13 Cincinnati semi-finalist, is now 18-11 on the year.
Sugita, five spots off his career-high of No. 43 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, reached his first Masters 1000 quarter-final in a career-best year with a 6-7(0), 6-3, 6-3 victory over #NextGenATP Russian Karen Khachanov in two hours.
Two months ago, the 28-year-old Japanese No. 2 captured his first ATP World Tour title at the Antalya Open (d. Mannarino), adding to three ATP Challenger Tour crowns won in 2017.
Watch Live On TennisTV
Watch Full Match Replays
Victoria Azarenka is set to miss the US Open because she is “not willing” to leave her child at home in California.
The Belarusian former world number one returned to tennis in June after giving birth to her son, Leo, in December.
Azarenka, 28, separated from his father in July and the pair are working “to resolve some of the legal processes”.
In a statement, Azarenka said: “The way things stand now is that the only way I can play in the US Open this year is if I leave Leo behind.”
The US Open will take place at Flushing Meadows from 28 August to 10 September.
Azarenka, Australian Open champion in 2012 and 2013, reached the final in New York in the same two years.
She was knocked out in the fourth round at Wimbledon this year. Last week, she pulled out of the Cincinnati Open because of “a family matter”.
“Like most working mothers I am faced with a difficult situation which may not allow me to return to work right away,” her statement added.
“Balancing childcare and a career is not easy for any parent, but it is a challenge I am willing to face and embrace. I want to support men and women everywhere who know it is OK to be a working mother – or father.
“No-one should ever have to decide between a child and their career, we are strong enough to do both.
“I remain optimistic that in the coming days Leo’s father and I can put aside any differences and take steps in the right direction to more effectively work as a team and agree on an arrangement for all three of us to travel and for me to compete but, more importantly, to ensure that Leo has a consistent presence from both of his parents.”
It hasn’t been all about tennis for players this week. ATPWorldTour.com provides a recap of the highlights
Follow all the latest off-court action on MyATP. Download the app for iPhone, Android and visit MyATP.com
Western & Southern Open – Cincinnati, U.S.A.
Rafael Nadal, Milos Raonic, Dominic Thiem, Juan Martin del Potro, Alexander Zverev, Stefan Kozlov and Tommy Paul were among the stars to meet fans at autograph sessions.
ATP World Tour Uncovered took #NextGenATP Americans Jared Donaldson and Kozlov for a morning of fun at Kings Island. The duo brought along some friends and went on three rides before heading back to site for practice. Both had been a little nervous before the roller coasters, but they loved it.
Sam Querrey gave up two hours of his day off to visit the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. The American joined WTA player Nicole Gibbs for an appearance at Seacrest Studios. The duo were joined by hospital patients for a fun-filled hour of Dad Jokes, Head’s Up and Nerf Basketball, which was played over the hospital radio and television stations.
Romania Fed Cup captain Ilie Nastase has appealed after being banned from official roles by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) until 2021.
The sanction followed his tirade at a Fed Cup tie in Bucharest in April.
He swore at an umpire, insulted British number one Johanna Konta and her captain Anne Keothavong and made a derogatory comment about Serena Williams’ unborn child.
Nastase, 70, was also fined $10,000 (£7,700).
As it stands, as well as being prevented from taking any official roles, he will not be accredited for ITF events until 2019.
An independent tribunal will be arranged to hear his appeal.
Grand Slam tournaments are not included within the sanction, nor the respective ATP or WTA Tours, as they lie outside the jurisdiction of the ITF.
The ITF adjudication panel said his comment about Serena Williams’ unborn child was racially insensitive, adding that he made advances of a “sexual nature” towards Keothavong.
Nastase said his comments were intended as a joke and had been misinterpreted.
WARNING: Some people may find the language below offensive
During the Fed Cup in April, Romanian player Simona Halep was answering a question in English about former world number one Williams and her pregnancy. Nastase then turned to one of his other team members and added in Romanian: “Let’s see what colour it has. Chocolate with milk?”
Speaking to BBC Sport earlier in the year, he defended his comment, saying: “For me, it’s not racial. Somebody in England thinks it is.”
Former world number one Nastase also put his arm tightly around Keothavong and asked for her room number, in earshot of the watching media.
The following day before play had even started, Nastase insulted a British journalist over their reporting of his comments about Williams, calling the Press Association’s tennis correspondent Eleanor Crooks “stupid”.
Later, after Konta and Keothavong complained of calling out from the crowd in the World Group II play-off tie in Constanta, Nastase was involved in a discussion with officials in which he used foul and abusive language.
He then called both Konta and Keothavong “a bitch” multiple times, as well as swearing at them.
Nastase, who won the US Open in 1972 and the French Open the following year, has said he would quit tennis if he was banned.