Top seeds make quick work of first matches
TOP seeds Dominic Thiem and Simona Halep cruised into the round of 16 at the ATP and WTA Citi Open with straightset triumphs at the US Open tune-up event.
Austria’s seventh-ranked Thiem, a French Open semifinalist in June, waited out a rain delay then needed only 63 minutes to dispatch 96thranked Swiss Henri Laaksonen 6-3, 6-3.
“It wasn’t easy, but I’m pretty happy with my performance,” he said. “It was my first match on hardcourt since Miami (in March) and that’s always a little tricky.”
World No.2 Halep, this year’s French Open runner-up, took only 79 minutes to oust US wildcard Sloane Stephens 7-6 (7/3), 6-0.
“It was a tough first set. I was missing a little bit too much and she made some shots,” she said. “Didn’t have the rhythm at the beginning, but I feel better now.”
Thiem, who dropped only eight points on his serve and just one on 25 successful first serves, broke in the second game and again in his rival’s last two service games, taking the match when Laaksonen netted a backhand.
“I don’t have a lack of confidence but it’s always nice to get that first win,” he said.
This marks the biggest event where Thiem has been top seeded, but his four nearest rankings rivals are also in the field — Germany’s Alexander Zverev, Japan’s Kei Nishikori, Canada’s Milos Raonic and Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov.
“I think there are five or six players to beat,” Thiem said. “There should be four or five top seeds. I’m one of them.”
But he faces a possible third-round match against South Africa’s Kevin Anderson, who has beaten him in all five of their career meetings.
“Of course I will think about it and I have to change something,” Thiem said. “It’s a very tough draw.”
Second-seeded Nishikori turned back the determined challenge of American Donald Young 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7/5).
Nishikori, seeking his first title of 2017, did not face a break point in the third set, but he could not convert any of his eight break chances.
He finally sealed the win on his sixth match point after two hours and 25 minutes and with the clock ticking toward 2am.
Halep will next face Colombia’s 115th-ranked Mariana Duque-Marino for a quarterfinal berth as the 25-year-old Romanian keeps her focus on building her game for the US Open starting on August 28.
“For first match on hardcourts, it wasn’t that bad,” she said. “My serve wasn’t the best but I was OK. Everything went well.
“It was important I won today. It was important the second set was much better. The next round I have to be a little more aggressive.”
Stephens has been back for only a month after missing almost a year with a foot injury.
“It was a good first set,” she said. “I did well to do the best I could. I got a little frustrated in the second set. It’s going to take a while to get that consistency back and get more matches under my belt.”