Murray Ousted In Cincinnati Return; Federer, Djokovic Tuesday

by Staff | August 13th, 2019, 12:19 am
  • 17 Comments

Andy Murray’s return to singles play was shortlived as the former No. 1 was bounced out of the Cincinnati draw by Richard Gasquet 6-4, 6-4.

While Murray moved decently, he was really troubled by a poor serving day. The Scot was broken three times and won just 42% of second serves.

“I think I did okay. I think there were a lot of things I would like to have done better in the match, but you also have to be somewhat realistic, in terms of what you can expect,” Murray said.


“[Richard] uses all of the angles on the court. He’s one of the best at doing that. So I was having to move quite a lot laterally, and I didn’t move forward particularly well. Like when he drop shotted, there was a few times I didn’t even run to the ball, didn’t react to it, and that’s nothing to do with my hip. That’s just me not running for a ball, which I did do better at the end of the match.”

Gasquet also underwent groin surgery in January, so he was pleased to get through.

“After surgery you never know if you’re going to come back or not,” said Gasquet. “Mentally, it’s tough. Physically after this, it’s very difficult to come back on the court, especially to play on a high level, running, one step to the other side, to serve.

“Now I’m feeling good. Of course, I fought a lot all year to come back, so now I’m feeling great… I hope it will be the same for Andy.”

Among the other big matches on the day, D.C. champion Nick Kyrgios outclassed Lorenzo Sonego 7-5, 6-4. The fan favorite will now face Canadian semifinalist Karen Khachanov.

“I actually felt as if I didn’t serve my best today at all. I’m being serious. I didn’t feel like I was hitting my spots well at all,” said Kyrgios who made the finals in 2017. “But he’s a young guy, he’s going to have an amazing career. He’s had a great year, obviously won a title as well. I’m just happy to get through. I knew it was going to be tough and I wanted to play Khachanov next, so I’m looking forward to it.”

Former champion Marin Cilic’s tough season continued as the Croat was stunned by Radu Albot 6-4, 7-6(6).

And French phenom Felix Auger-Aliassime was plagued by 10 double faults in a 6-3, 6-3 loss to fellow 19-year-old Miomir Kecmanovic.

“It definitely means a lot. It’s a big win for me. I needed this mentally just to know that I can be here and play with these guys, so I think it’s going to help for the upcoming matches,” Kecmanovic said. “I felt pretty good on the court and played solid, so hopefully I can keep it up.”

He’ll now get Alexander Zverev on Wednesday.

On a big Tuesday, former champions and tournament favorites Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer make their summer hard court debuts.

The defending champion Djokovic will duel American Sam Querrey who was a straight set winner Monday over Pierre-Hugues Herbert.

Seven-time winner Federer will battle Juan Ignacio Londero in the evening.

Former champion Grigor Dimitrov also faces Stan Wawrinka for the third time in as many months. Wawrinka has won six of 10 including the last four.

TUESDAY CINCINNATI SCHEDULE
CENTER COURT start 11:00 am
ATP – Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria) vs Stan Wawrinka (Switzerland)
Not Before 1:00 pm
WTA – [5] Kiki Bertens (Netherlands) vs Venus Williams (USA)
ATP – Reilly Opelka (USA) vs [12] Borna Coric (Croatia) to finish 4-6 6-3 3-4 0-15
ATP – [1] Novak Djokovic (Serbia) vs [WC] Sam Querrey (USA)
Not Before 7:00 pm
ATP – [3] Roger Federer (Switzerland) vs [WC] Juan Ignacio Londero (Argentina)
Not Before 8:30 pm
WTA – [Q] Zarina Diyas (Kazakhstan) vs [10] Serena Williams (USA)


You Might Like:
Andy Murray Is Now Out Of Cincinnati, Will Lose No. 1 Ranking; Hopes To Play US Open
Murray Scores 3-Set Win Over Londero In Shanghai; Federer Opens Play Tuesday
Rafael Nadal Now Out Of Cincinnati, Will Head To Spain For Evaluation
Roger Federer Is So Relaxed In Cincinnati, He All But Forgot He Had A Match Tuesday Night
The Once-Retired Andy Murray Is Back In Singles At Cincinnati

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17 Comments for Murray Ousted In Cincinnati Return; Federer, Djokovic Tuesday

Jane Says:

Murray did ok considering he’s not played any singles for over 7 months! No player has EVER returned to singles after having major hip surgery, so this is amazing when you consider that.
Gasquet is a tricky player and can bring anyone down on a good day. There were signs of the old Murray and deft touches at the net, which is a result of his doubles matches – so it’s onwards and upwards!


skeezer Says:

Al the best Murray, take it easy.
——
http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2019/08/roger-federer-prakash-amritraj-cincinnati-chat-caravan-family-vacation-wimbledon-final/84318/

“Federer also touched on rejoining the ATP Player Council with Rafael Nadal, adding, “I called Rafa up and thought, ‘what do you think? I would only do it with you.’ He said, ‘I’d only do it if you come too.’ That’s when we sent our proposal in about having us join the group again.”

Glad they are coming back. Sanity will now prevail. Are they now BFFs? 😂


j-kath Says:

Skeezer/Jane:

Re. Andy…his record against Gasquet was positive – but not when Andy fluffs his serve – surely some attention to that is the clue. Hope he continues with singles and doesn’t revert to doubles (unless its a GS).


Daniel Says:

He was playing dcent for return and even borke Gasquet back, but you could see his serve was tentative, it took him 3 service games befrie he finally won a free point, also his slices, which used to be pretty great was not there also.

But overall a good first match back.


chrisford1 Says:

“Glad they are coming back. Sanity will now prevail. Are they now BFFs?” sez Skeez

I believe Roger is not feeling the love as Rafa could have decided what most suspected he would – withdraw from Cincinnati before the draw vs leaving Roger stuck in Djokovic’s half. With Tsitsipas thrown in.
Rafa has the seniority to not do Masters 1000s he chooses not to. Near a double negative on that one…from me…but that is the situation.

ON Murray, he moved well and I’m a little surprised he would forgo the USO and his last opportunity to build up ATP points double what a Masters 1000 gives at a Slam….as he won’t qualify for the Championships.But no one wants to see Murray rush in and get hurt again because he wasn’t ready


skeezer Says:

Cf1,
He is talking about a completely different thing(ATP Council), not about Rafa withdrawing from Cincinnati.
Read it.


SG1 Says:

From what i saw in Montreal, Andy’s going to be fine. He just needs to ply tennis. I think that by Wimbledon, he’ll be a threat again.


chrisford1 Says:

I read it Skeezer, now I ask you to go past what the article says and the Fedal loving quotes – to the larger picture.
Supposedly, Nadal is joining the Player’s Council to help have his dear friend Fed’s back, but the same week sticks it to Fed to be stuck in Novaks half by waiting to withdraw until after the Cincinnati Draft is done.


j-kath Says:

SG1: Andy has stated he would have played in the Challengers for the next Grand Slam – if he had remembered that Challengers only need to play max. 3 sets to get into main draw. Evidently thinking that if he’d got through he’d be more prepared for 5-setters. Anyway, he was too late.

Andi-M: You may come out of hiding – you must have fallen asleep – just when Andy needed BOTH of us. PS: I missed most of his match myself.!!!!


skeezer Says:

“I ask you to go past what the article says…”
Why? The article speaks for itself on matters of which I brought up, not because Nadal withdrew from Cincy. I do not agree it’s a dig at Fed, I think their relationship is better than that. Both being back on the board) is more a dig at Djoker imo. Fed has withdrawn after draws have come out, as well as Djoker……..It’s about managing your body with the schedule….and all these guys have learnt from the Maestro. Should there be a better system for this kind of situation? Probably, it does mess up the draw…


Andy Mira Says:

JK…Is it safe to come out?U’re not going to kick my a@$??Hahaha…

I missed his match too…it’s hard to keep an eyelids open at 3,4 am…but read many encouraging articles about his 1st match tho…

Yeah…i read about that too JK…it’s a shame we can’t see him at Flushing Meadows…but looking forward to c him at Asian Swing & onwards….


j-kath Says:

Andy Mira: Yep, they stuck Andy on TV to tell us all about it. PS: Andy’s playing doubles with Isner today.


Giles Says:

These inferences on Rafa withdrawing from Cincy after the draw was done is “.balls”. He was asked well before Cincy started whether he would play and he replied that that would depend on his results in Montreal.


skeezer Says:

Giles,
Rafa was in the draw, meaning he “entered” the tournament.


Truth Says:

Fred pretends to love Nadal the most because he thinks Nadal isn’t that great & still “one dimensional”. Fedal claim to be very old or injured, and exhausted from playing many surrendering mental midgets from 2004-2019.
Ironically, Fred also thinks a clown like Roddick was great for tennis.
Funny, I don’t believe Fred believes Roddick thought he was a very smart, fair & good US athlete that competed so well.
Roddick was stupid and acting like he was a “one of the 2nd tier level players”.
He choked matches away, just like his match point-loss idol Fred.
Roddick was more pathetic than Kyrgios because Roddick was pure evil, greedy, and a worse Fed sycophant.


Giles Says:

Skeezer. That’s as may be. Montreal final was on the 11 August, Cincy started on 11 August.. Rafa said his Montreal results would determine whether or not he would play Cincy.. He won Montreal as you know so withdrawing from Cincy was pretty obvious. Wots the problem??


skeezer Says:

Giles,
I am not debating that Rafa should have withdrawn, or had the intention to( if he won Montreal), so no problem there. Imo it was more strategy looking back than needed rest, he didn’t play hardly any taxing matches, especially the final.
The fact that he did indeed enter the draw, which impacted the now top heavy draw, is a bummer for the tournament director(s) and fans. Yes the Tourney started Aug 11, but he wouldn’t have played until the 13th. Still, the tournaments are obviously too close together…. or maybe come up with a specific rule for this so a draw is not impacted like this one.

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