Federer gets ousted in Cincinnati
MASON, OHIO — For Roger Federer, it was one big blur. The seventime champion was ousted from one of his favourite tennis tournaments in barely over an hour, falling in straight sets to a 21year-old qualifier he’d never faced.
Andre Rublev — with only one career win over a top-five player to his credit — took advantage of Federer’s numerous mistakes for a 6-3, 6-4 victory Thursday that further depleted the top of the men’s bracket in the Western & Southern Open.
It was over shockingly fast — Federer’s quickest defeat on the tour since 2003.
“To be honest, it’s tough when it’s fast like this to tell you, well, I could have done this or that,” he said.
Federer has won the tournament more than anyone, using it as a springboard to the U.S. Open. He had 16 unforced errors against the 70th-ranked Rublev, who wiped a teary eye in celebration after Federer’s forehand sailed long to end it. Struggling with his serve, Federer got broken twice in the first set.
“And there you have it. It set the tone for the match a little bit,” Federer said. “He was super clean — offence, defence, serving well. He didn’t give me anything.”
Federer, who lost a classic five-set match for the Wimbledon title to Novak Djokovic, thinks he’s in good shape heading into the U.S. Open despite the upset in Cincinnati.
“I played 45 matches this year, so I think I should be fine,” he said, smiling.
But oh, this last one. And oh, what a wide-open tournament.
Second-seeded Rafael Nadal withdrew before the start of the tournament because of fatigue after winning the Rogers Cup in Montreal on Sunday. Djokovic was the only one of the Top 3 left in Cincinnati, set to play later in the day.
In the women’s bracket, topseeded Ashleigh Barty reached the quarterfinals, joined by a resurgent Venus Williams.
Barty beat Anett Kontaveit, 4-6, 7-5, 7-5, raising her fist in triumph after fighting off one match point to take the two-hour, 10-minute match. She was down a break in the second set before rallying on a day when she struggled to find consistency.
“The best thing is when my back was against the wall, the tennis was there,” Barty said. “It may not have been there the whole match, but we were able to find it when we needed it.”
Williams recovered from a rough first set and beat Donna Vekic, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.