Raonic advances to quarterfinals in Cincinnati
Milos Raonic came on strong when he had to — in the third set — to put away Yuichi Sugita of Japan 6-1, 6-3, 6-1, to advance to the quarter-finals of the Western & Southern Open on Thursday.
The native of Thornhill, Ont., will next face Dominic Thiem, a 22-year-old from Austria.
Earlier, Steve Johnson advanced to the quarter-finals and put himself in position to become the top American in the ATP rankings heading into the U.S. Open.
Johnson beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3, 7-6 (6) and raised his index finger in celebration. He’ll move into the ATP’s top spot next week, knocking John Isner out of the slot that he’s held every week since July 29, 2013.
The tournament is missing both defending champions and several other top players because of injuries and the strain of playing in the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, where the final tennis medals were awarded on Sunday.
The wide-open men’s field offers Johnson and others a chance to gain rankings points and perhaps win a title.
Johnson’s straight-sets win will bump him ahead of Isner, who lost his second-round match a day earlier.
Defending champion Roger Federer is out for the rest of the season, rehabilitating his surgically repaired knee.
Top-ranked Novak Djokovic lost in Rio and then withdrew from Cincinnati with a sore wrist. Gold medallist Andy Murray was tired after a gruelling week in Rio. Rafael Nadal was still trying to get his game together after missing two months with a sore left wrist. He reached the semifinals in Rio.
Second-seeded Stan Wawrinka wasted a chance to take advantage on Thursday, losing to Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-4. Wawrinka smacked his racket on the ground as he fell behind in the first set, the start of a frustrating match overall. Tied 3-3 in the second set, Wawrinka committed two unforced forehand errors and Dimitrov got the break he needed to take control.
In the women’s bracket, Angelique Kerber, the world No. 2, is still adjusting to court and weather conditions after her quick turnaround from her silver medal performance at the Rio Games last week. On Thursday, she strung together a close straight-set victory, defeating 20th-ranked Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic 7-6(5), 6-4.
“I think we both played really tough,” Kerber said. “The conditions were hard to play in because it was very hot and the courts are faster than I played last week in Rio. I’m happy to manage this in two sets instead of going to a third set.”