Three Grand Slam champions who have had injury struggles over the past year opened their 2018 Western & Southern Open campaigns on Monday, as Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, and Stan Wawrinka took to the Cincinnati courts for their first-round matches.
Djokovic defeated US-American Steve Johnson 6-7, 7-6(4). The No. 10 seed from Serbia broke his opponent’s serve three times to advance in two hours and two minutes. Djokovic will next play Frenchman Adrian Mannarino.
Wild card entry Murray lost to No. 16 seed Lucas Pouille of France 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 in one hour and 53 minutes.
“I’m very happy, especially with the way I fought until the end,” Pouille said. “I tried to do my best in the third set and then until the end I played very aggressive and I’m very pleased with that.”
Wild card entry Wawrinka fought past 12th seeded Argentine Diego Schwartzman 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 in one hour and 55 minutes to face Kei Nishikori in the second round.
Roger and Serena step into action
Tuesday’s night session features two of the most accomplished tennis players in the sport’s history with Roger Federer and Serena Williams taking Center Court. In their careers, these two have combined to:
- Win 43 Major singles championships (20 for Federer, 23 for Williams)
- Win 170 total singles titles (98 for Federer, 72 for Williams)
- Hold the No. 1 ranking for 629 weeks (310 for Federer, 319 for Williams)
- Win 9 Western & Southern Open titles (7 for Federer, 2 for Williams)
Tuesday’s schedule includes three moms – Serena Williams will play Petra Kvitova, Tatjana Maria takes on Allie Kiick, and Victoria Azarenka faces Caroline Garcia.
Fun Fact
The new $25 million, 41,000 square foot South Building rises 112 feet above Center Court, and is the tallest occupiable building in Mason. Kings Island’s Eiffel Tower is 315 feet tall, but not occupiable space.
RESULTS Monday, August 13, 2018
ATP Singles First Round
Sam Querrey (USA) d [9] John Isner (USA) 6-4 6-7(5) 7-6(5)
[10] Novak Djokovic (Serbia) d Steve Johnson (USA) 6-4 7-6(4)
[WC] Stan Wawrinka (Switzerland) d [12] Diego Schwartzman (Argentina) 6-2 4-6 6-3
[13] Pablo Carreno Busta (Spain) d Richard Gasquet (France) 6-3 2-6 6-3
[16] Lucas Pouille (France) d [WC] Andy Murray (Great Britain) 6-1, 1-6, 6-4
Kei Nishikori (Japan) d Andrey Rublev (Russia) 7-5 6-3
Denis Shapovalov (Canada) d Frances Tiafoe (USA) 7-6(6) 3-6 7-5
Benoit Paire (France) d David Ferrer (Spain) 6-2 6-2
Peter Gojowczyk (Germany) d Joao Sousa (Portugal) 2-6 6-4 7-5
[Q] Bradley Klahn (USA) d Maximillan Marterer (Germany) 7-6(1) 6-4
Jeremy Chardy (France) d Fernando Verdasco (Spain) 6-1 6-2
Leonardo Mayer (Argentina) d [Q] Michael Mmoh (USA) 6-4 1-6 6-4
ATP Doubles First Round
Ben McLachlan (Japan) / Matwe Middelkoop (Netherlands) d Marco Cecchinato (Italy) / Damir Dzumhur (Bosnia-Herzegovina) 6-7(6) 6-3 10-8
[WC] Ryan Harrison (USA) / Nicholas Monroe (USA) d [WC] Mackenzie McDonald (USA) / Daniel Nestor (Canada) 7-6(2) 5-7 10-8
WTA Singles First Round
[Q] Alizé Cornet (France) d [11] Jelena Ostapenko (Latvia) 1-6 7-5 6-0
[13] Madison Keys (USA) d [WC] Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) 3-6 7-6(3) 6-4
Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) d Carla Suárez Navarro (Spain) 6-7(5) 6-2 6-4
Serena Williams (USA) d Daria Gavrilova (Australia) 6-1 6-2
Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) d Johanna Konta (Great Britain) 4-6 6-3 6-4
[Q] Rebecca Peterson (Sweden) d Katerina Siniakova (Czech Republic) 2-6 6-4 6-1
Lesia Tsurenko (Ukraine) d. Danielle Collins (USA) 6-0 6-2
Anett Kontaveit (Estonia) d Barbora Strycova (Czech Republic) 6-3 6-0
[WC] Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) d [Q] Stefanie Voegele (Switzerland) 6-4 2-6 7-6(5)
[Q] Viktoria Kuzmova (Slovakia) d [Q] Aliaksandra Sasnovich (Belarus) 6-0 4-6 6-1
[Q] Ajla Tomljanovic (Australia) d Irina-Camelia Begu (Romania) 4-6 6-3 6-3
WTA Doubles First Round
Xinyun Han (China) / Darija Jurak (Croatia) d Alicja Rosolska (Poland) / Abigail Spears (USA) 7-6(4) 7-5
[WC] Jennifer Brady (USA) / Caroline Dolehide (USA) d Lara Arruabarrena (Spain) / Kirsten Flipkens (Belarus) 7-6(5) 6-4
Raluca Olaru (Romania) / Vera Zvonareva (Russia) d Vania King (USA) / Katarina Srebotnik (Slovakia) 6-3 4-6 10-3
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Russia) / Anastasija Sevastova (Latvia) d Su-Wei Hsieh (Chinese Taipei) / Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) 2-6 6-3 13-11
