CINCINNATI, August 17, 2018

Milos Raonic booked his spot in the quarterfinals of the Western & Southern Open. The 27-year-old emerged victorious from the all-Canadian encounter with #NextGenATP star Denis Shapovalov 7-6(6), 6-4 on a rain-interrupted Thursday in Cincinnati.

Raonic fired 12 aces, winning 86 per cent of his first service points to prevail in one hour and 42 minutes.

“I think I got myself into more points on his serve than he did on mine. I think that was an important thing.” Raonic said. “It was the thing I struggled with most last time we played, so I definitely made sure to focus on that and sort of try to change that a little bit.”

Play was called on account rain just after 10 pm Thursday night. Four singles matches were suspended in progress while five other Round of 16 matches had yet to take the court. Those nine matches will lead Friday’s schedule, with the quarterfinals scheduled for later in the day.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW
1) Thursday’s showers bring Friday’s doubleheaders! Ten singles matches were completed Thursday, including three held over second round matches. Rains eventually forced all play to be abandoned around 10 pm with four Round of 16 matches in progress and five waiting to take the court. Those nine matches will be played earlier in the day on Friday, with the winners having to return to the court later in the day for their quarterfinals.

2) Both David Goffin and Nick Kyrgios have a unique opportunity to beat two Top 10 opponents on the same day. Eleventh-ranked Goffin, who is 12-42 in his career against Top 10 players, first faces No. 6 Kevin Anderson on Stadium 3 at 11 am, then could face No. 3 Juan Martin del Potro in the evening session. Kyrgios, who is ranked 18th, brings a 15-26 Top 10 record into his match against Del Potro on Grandstand at 11 am, and could face Anderson in an evening match.

3) While all remaining women’s players are seeking to win their first Western & Southern Open title, 16-year-old Amanda Anisimova is bidding for her first WTA quarterfinal on Friday. The New Jersey native faces No. 5 Elina Svitolina Friday morning. With a win, she would return to court later in the day to play either Anett Kontaveit or Kiki Bertens for a semifinal berth. Anisimova is the youngest player to have won a main draw match in Cincinnati since the Tour returned here in 2004, and is looking to be the youngest W&S Open quarterfinalist and semifinalist in the Open Era since 15-year-old Jeanne Evert reached the 1973 semifinals.

FUN FACT
The Western & Southern Open unleashes a corps of 86 squeegees and 68 blowers to erase the effects of unwelcome rain and efficiently bring the world’s best tennis back to the courts.

MUST WATCH
Click here to see what happened when Denis Shapovalov invited a Western & Southern ball boy to a surprise courtside chat.

RESULTS – Thursday, August 16, 2018
ATP Singles – Round of 16
Milos Raonic (Canada) d Denis Shapovalov (Canada) 7-6(6) 6-4
Pablo Carreno Busta (Spain) d Robin Haase (Netherlands) 6-4 6-2

ATP Singles – Second Round
[4] Juan Martin del Potro (Argentina) d Hyeon Chung (South Korea) 6-2 6-3

WTA Singles – Round of 16
[15] Elise Mertens (Belgium) d [3] Sloane Stephens (USA) 7-6(8) 6-2
[13] Madison Keys (USA) d [4] Angelique Kerber (Germany) 2-6 7-6(3) 6-4
Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) d [6] Caroline Garcia (France) 6-4 3-6 7-5
[8] Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic) d Kristina Mladenovic (France) 6-4 6-2
Lesia Tsurenko (Ukraine) d Ekaterina Makarova (Russia) 7-5(5) 6-2

WTA Singles – Second Round
[1] Simona Halep (Romania) d Ajla Tomljanovic (Australia) 4-6 6-3 6-3
Amanda Anisimova (USA) d [Q] Petra Martic (Croatia) 6-4 6-3

ATP Doubles – Second Round
[5] Lukasz Kubot (Poland) / Marcelo Melo (Brazil) d Raven Klaasen (South Africa) / Michael Venus (New Zealand) 6-4 7-6(4)
Philipp Kohlschreiber (Germany) / Fernando Verdasco (Spain) d [8] Nicolas Mahut (France) / Edouard Roger-Vasselin (France) 7-6(6) 6-7(4) 10-6

WTA Doubles – Second Round
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Russia) / Anastasija Sevastova (Latvia) d [5] Nicole Melichar (USA) / Kveta Peschke (Czech Republic) 6-2 5-2 (Ret.)
Kaitlyn Christian (USA) / Sabrina Santamaria (USA) d Xinyun Han (China) / Darija Jurak (Croatia) 1-6 6-1 10-7