NADAL BEATS GASQUET, ZVEREV OUSTED BY USA TEENAGER TIAFOE
CINCINNATI: Rafael Nadal cruised to victory in his first match since clinching a return to world number one while Alexander Zverev’s 10-match win streak was halted Wednesday at the WTA and ATP Cincinnati Masters.
Nadal, a 15-time Grand Slam champion who captured his 10th French Open crown in June, defeated Richard Gasquet 6-3, 6-4, improving to 15-0 in ATP matches against the Frenchman.
Zverev, coming off titles in Montreal and Washington and seeking his sixth of the year, admitted exhaustion was a factor in his 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 loss to US teen wildcard Frances Tiafoe, saying the toll of his extraordinary run caught up with him.
VENUS, KERBER OUSTED On the women’s side, top-ranked Czech defending champion Karolina Pliskova defeated Russian lucky loser Natalia Vikhlyantseva 6-2, 6-3, dropping Dane Caroline Wozniacki from the list of rivals who can overtake her for world number one this week. Simona Halep and Ukraine’s fourth-ranked Elina Svitolina -who beat Lesia Tsurenko 6-1, 6-4 -could still swipe the top spot for the first time in their careers. Angelique Kerber lost her chance to reclaim it by losing to Ekaterina Makarova 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (13/11).
SANIA ADVANCES, RAMKUMAR, PAES OUT India’s Ramkumar Ramanathan bowed out of the Cincinnati Masters on Wednesday after losing a tight Round of 32 clash to USA’s Jared Donaldson. Sania Mirza and her partner Peng Shuai showcased a splendid performance as they booked their place in the quarter-finals of 2017 Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati following a straight-set win. NEWDELHI: Saina Nehwal has been away from spotlight for a while and coach Vimal Kumar feels it might turn out to be a blessing in disguise for the injury-ravaged player when she competes at the World Championship in Glasgow next week.
The first Indian woman to clinch a silver medal at the World Championship, in 2015 at Jakarta, Saina has been struggling ever since, limping out of the Olympics last year with a knee injury. Even though the Indian recovered well from the injury to win the Malaysia Masters but she has never reached her peak, losing some close matches against opponents whom she has dominated in the last decade.
“After the knee injury, she was struggling, she lost some close matches. She has put in some good effort and if she can play to her potential then it is possible to beat the top players,” a guarded Vimal said. “This time, the focus is not on her.”
With two Super Series titles and a final finish this year, Kidambi Srikanth will be the cynosure of all eyes as he carries India’s hopes at the World Championship starting August 21.
B Sai Praneeth and Olympic silver-medallist PV Sindhu also clinched a Super Series title each at the Singapore Open and India Open but a title has eluded Saina so far this year. Vimal, however, said it was not a concern.
“It happens in individual sports and all the girls are also improving, they are all young girls, against whom she has been playing,” said the former chief National Coach. “Whether it is (Nitchaon) Jindapol or Busanan (Ongbumrungpan), they also went on to beat Akane Yamaguchi or Tai Tzu (Ying), who are in the top 5, so they have similar standards and on their day they can beat each other.”Saina has got a bye in the opening round and will take on the winner of the match between Switzerland’s Sabrina Jaquet and Ukraine’s Natalya Voytsekh with a potential clash against Korea’s second seed Sung Ji Hyun for a place in the pre-quarterfinals.