Wawrinka Escapes, Nadal Strong, Loaded Schedule Thursday at ATP Cincinnati Including Murray
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Some players needed to double-up in matches due to rains earlier in the week, but all nine of the Top 10-seeded players in action made it safely through on Wednesday in Cincinnati, led by a tired Olympics gold medal champ Andy Murray who worked past Juan Monaco 6-3, 6-2 in the late-night match.
ADHEREL
Other Top 10-seeded winners were No. 2 Stanislas Wawrinka coming from a set down to beat American Jared Donaldson 2-6, 6-3, 6-4; No. 3 Rafa Nadal looking strong in beating Pablo Cuevas 6-1, 7-6(4); No. 4 Milos Raonic outdueling John Isner 7-6(5), 7-6(5); No. 5 Kei Nishikori rolling Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 6-2; No. 6 Tomas Berdych defeating Marcel Granollers 6-3, 7-6(4); No. 7 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga topping American big man Reilly Opelka 7-6(5), 7-6(3); No. 8 Dominic Thiem defeating Aussie John Millman 7-5, 6-1; and No. 9 Gael Monfils rolling Marcos Baghdatis 7-5, 6-0.
“I think I played well,” said Nadal, who lost to Cuevas in their last meeting. “I think I played a good match against a tough opponent in the first round for me for sure. After coming from Rio and after the marathon that I had, it’s a very important victory for me. So I’m very happy.”
Upset-makers were Aussie Bernard Tomic coming from a set down to beat No. 11 David Goffin 3-6, 7-5, 6-4; South African Kevin Anderson routing an injured No. 13 Richard Gasquet 6-2, 6-4; Croat Borna Coric outlasting No. 14 Nick Kyrgios 7-6(2), 4-6, 7-6(6); France’s Nicolas Mahut in three beating No. 15 Roberto Bautista 7-6(2), 2-6, 6-3; and Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov coming from a set down to beat No. 16 Feliciano Lopez 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(6).
Tomic will next face Nishikori.
Wawrinka after narrowly defeating the 19-year-old Donaldson will next meet Dimitrov.
Highlights of Thursday’s schedule in Cincinnati is (3) Wawrinka vs. Dimitrov, (3) Nadal vs. Coric, (1) Murray vs. Anderson, (7) Tsonga vs. Johnson, (4) Raonic vs. Mahut, and (5) Nishikori vs. Tomic.
THURSDAY CINCINNATI SCHEDULE
CENTER COURT start 11:00 am
ATP – G. Dimitrov (BUL) vs [2] S. Wawrinka (SUI)
Not Before 1:00 pm
WTA – [Q] D. Gavrilova (AUS) vs [3] S. Halep (ROU)
ATP – B. Coric (CRO) vs [3] R. Nadal (ESP)
Not Before 7:00 pm
ATP – [1] A. Murray (GBR) vs K. Anderson (RSA)
Not Before 8:30 pm
WTA – [5] A. Radwanska (POL) vs [10] J. Konta (GBR)
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