Cincinnati Open Round up | Ramanathan crashes out; Nadal enters Round of 16
getty
Indian ace Ramkumar Ramanathan bowed out in the round of 32 of the Cincinnati Open as he lost 4-6, 6-2, 4-6 to America’s Jared Donaldson following his lucky entry into the Masters slam. World No.1 Rafael Nadal and Britain’s Johanna Konta too progressed into the round of 16 with straight set wins.
Ramanathan couldn’t make the most of his fortunate entry in the Cincinnati Open as he was shown the door by Jared Donaldson in the round of 32. The World No. 180 did make a strong comeback in the second set (6-2) after losing the first one narrowly, but the American was up for it in the third and final one.
The boy from Chennai had gained entry in Cincinnati despite losing in the final qualifier of the Western & Southern Open. Following Gael Monfils withdrawal from the tournament due to illness, Ramanathan had gained access into the main draw via lucky loser entry.
The player, who was playing his first Masters 1000, main draw managed to overcome American qualifier Christopher Eubanks in the round of 64 defeating him 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-4 to ensure 61 ranking points playing at the centre court.
In other Men’s singles game, Rafael Nadal advanced to the round of 16 with 6-3, 6-4 win over French ace Richard Gasquet. The match was halted by an hour-long rain before Nadal finished it off with two eight aces. Nadal will play compatriot Ramos-Viñolas in the round of 16.
Apart from him, Czech Republic's Karolina Pliskova, the only other No.1 seed in the Western & Southern Open took only 67 minutes to register a 6-2, 6-3 win over Russian Natalia Vikhlyantseva, exhibiting why she is the defending champion. She faces Italian ace Camila Giorgi next round.
Britain's Johanna Konta will face Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova after she defeated Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands to reach the third round. The World number seven broke quite early in the game to take the set 6-3 with a strong performance. Although Bertens attempted a strong comeback in the second set, the Briton found three breaks of her own to win 6-3, 6-3.
The other results mostly saw losses for the top seeds as the mercurial Venus Williams got herself knocked out by Ashleigh Barty. The 37-year-old fell prey to the humid afternoon as the 21-year-old Australian rallied to a 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 win.
