Del Potro upsets Berdych in 1st round in Cincinnati
Berdych was playing his first match since withdrawing from last week’s Rogers Cup in Montreal with a rib injury.
Published : Aug 16, 2017 00:42 IST
Juan Martin del Potro advanced to the second round of the Western & Southern Open with a 3-6, 7-6 (1), 6-0 upset of 10th-seeded Tomas Berdych on Tuesday.
The 30th-ranked del Potro shook off a first-set loss, jumping out to a 4-1 lead in the second set before settling for a win in the tiebreak, which he led 5-0 and clinched with an ace. He built on his momentum by rolling through the third set against the Wimbledon semifinalist, improving to 12-0 in first-round matches this season.
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Berdych was playing his first match since withdrawing from last week’s Rogers Cup in Montreal with a rib injury.
Tenth-ranked Milos Raonic withdrew Tuesday from this U.S. Open warmup because of a left wrist injury, tournament officials said. With Raonic’s withdrawal, the tournament has now lost seven of the top 10 players in the men’s rankings.
No. 3 Roger Federer and No. 9 Kei Nishikori withdrew on Monday. No. 1 Andy Murray, No. 4 Stan Wawrinka, No. 5 Novak Djokovic and No. 6 Marin Cilic the defending champion withdrew before the tournament started. No. 2 Rafael Nadal, the top-seeded player, remains in the draw and will return to No. 1 when new ATP rankings are released Aug. 21.
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Ninth-seeded David Goffin became the first seeded man to be knocked out in Cincinnati, falling to Nick Kyrgios, 6-2, 6-3 in a first-round match Tuesday. Kyrgios will meet qualifier Alexandr Dolgopolov in the second round after Dolgopolov defeated Kevin Anderson 6-4, 7-6 (6). Also, Karen Khachanov beat Diego Schwartzman 6-1, 1-6, 6-3.