Daily Times

CINCINNATI: Juan Martin del Potro quickly dispatched South Korean Chung Hyeon 6-2 6-3 on Thursday in a Cincinnati Open second-round match carried over from the previous day because of inclement weather. Bad weather continued to play havoc with the evening schedule as second seed Roger Federer’s match against Leonardo Mayer and Kevin Anderson’s match against David Goffin failed to get underway. Several of Thursday afternoon’s matches were suspended in progress, with Novak Djokovic leading fifth seed GrigorDimitrov 2-6 6-3 2-1 and Marin Cilic tied with Karen Khachanov at 7-6(5) 3-6 1-1. Wild-card entrant Stan Wawrinka was up 2-1 in the first set against Marton Fucsovics.

In third round action, big-serving Milos Raonic beat fellow Canadian Denis Shapovalov 7-6(6) 6-4 while Spanish 13th seed Pablo Carreno Busta topped Dutchman Robin Haase 6-4 6-2. “I think I got myself into more points on his serve than he did on mine,” said Raonic. “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.” Del Potro and Chung were delayed from taking the court because of rain and then had to endure another weather-related suspension just six minutes into their match. Del Potro was not rattled by the delays, however, and did well to attack Chung’s forehand throughout the 81-minute encounter that determined the final entry into the last 16. “I am happy to beat these young players,” del Potro said. “He has a big future, and he is a nice player. I am glad to go through.” This marks Del Potro’s fourth consecutive last-16 appearance in Cincinnati, where the Argentine appears to be in fine form right in time for the Aug. 27-Sept. 9 USA Open.

Published in Daily Times, August 18^th 2018.