Djokovic-Dimitrov poised as rain wreaks havoc, Del Potro through

Rain wreaked havoc again as only three matches were completed at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament on Thursday.

Published : Aug 17, 2018 08:55 IST

Mother Nature was the winner at the Cincinnati Masters, where Novak Djokovic's last-16 showdown with defending champion Grigor Dimitrov was postponed due to wet weather.

Rain wreaked havoc again as only three matches were completed at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament on Thursday. Juan Martin del Potro, Milos Raonic and Pablo Carreno Busta advanced before the heavens opened up on more than one occasion.

Former world number one and 10th seed Djokovic lost the first set 6-2, but rallied to win the second 6-3 before a rain delay.

The rain stopped briefly as Djokovic broke fifth seed Dimitrov for a 2-1 lead in the third and deciding set, but proceedings were eventually halted for good until Friday.

Croatian seventh seed Marin Cilic and Karen Khachanov were level at 1-1 in the third set and Stan Wawrinka was leading Marton Fucsovics 2-1 in the opening set, while Roger Federer and David Goffin did not make it out on to the court for their matches.

READ: Clinical Halep quickly completes comeback after lengthy rain delay

DEL POTRO DOMINATES CHUNG

World number three Del Potro wasted little time dispatching Australian Open semi-finalist Hyeon Chung 6-2, 6-3. Playing for the first time his rise in the rankings, Del Potro earned his fourth successive Cincinnati last-16 appearance. Del Potro was due to face Nick Kyrgios for a spot in the quarterfinals, later, on Thursday, but rain ruined those plans.

 

RAONIC PREVAILS IN ALL-CANADIAN AFFAIR

The quarterfinals await Raonic after he got the better of countryman Denis Shapovalov 7-6 (8-6), 6-4. It has been all about Shapovalov in Canada amid Raonic's form and fitness issues, but the 2016 Wimbledon runner-up showed he is still a force to be reckoned with.

Standing in the way of Raonic and the semi-finals is either Djokovic or Dimitrov. Spanish 13th seed Carreno Busta, meanwhile, accounted for Robin Haase 6-4, 6-2.

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