Federer, Djokovic, Halep win rain-delayed matches, reach QFs

Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Simona Halep made quick work of their rain-delayed matches Friday afternoon and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Western & Southern Open, facing the daunting challenge of playing a few hours later in extremely humid conditions.

Several days of rain turned the quarterfinals into an endurance test. Six men's and three women's singles matches were held over from Thursday because of rain.

Federer — the top player left in the men's bracket after No. 1 Rafael Nadal withdrew to get some rest — needed only 72 minutes to beat Leonardo Mayer 6-1, 7-6 (6), leaving him on course for yet another Cincinnati title. He's won a record seven despite missing the tournament the last two years because of injury.

Then, it was off for a little rest before an evening match against fellow Swiss player Stan Wawrinka, who advanced with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Marton Fucsovics.

Djokovic's match against Grigor Dimitrov was suspended at the start of the third set on Thursday night. He finished off the defending champion 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, maintaining his hopes of a first Cincinnati title.

Dimitrov didn't drop a set last year while winning his first Masters title in Cincinnati. He also won his first two matches this week in straight sets, a streak that was broken by Djokovic on Thursday night before the rains came and the match was suspended with Djokovic up 2-1.

With each win, Djokovic gets closer to the chance he covets — another appearance in the title match. He's never won at Cincinnati, going 0-5 in title matches. It's the only ATP Masters 1000 event that has eluded him.

Djokovic acknowledges he would especially enjoy winning the title, which would make him the only player to win all nine ATP Masters events. Premier League

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