Kyrgios, Ferrer Reach Cincinnati Third Round
Nick Kyrgios will look to his reach his fifth ATP World Tour Masters 1000 quarter-final (or better) on Thursday when he challenges big serving Croatian Ivo Karlovic at the Western & Southern Open. Kyrgios leads 3-0 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, with five of their nine sets going to tie-breaks.
The Australian, who continues to struggle to overcome a hip injury, struck 20 winners – including 15 aces – on Wednesday in a 6-3, 7-6(6) victory over Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov, who committed 36 unforced errors, in the 86-minute encounter. Dolgopolov reached the 2015 Cincinnati semi-finals (l. to Djokovic).
Former World No. 3 David Ferrer, rebuilding his form and confidence with the SkiStar Swedish Open crown in recent weeks, found a way past lucky loser and former World No. 8 Janko Tipsarevic in a 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-1 win over two hours and 25 minutes. In a match featuring 13 breaks of serve, Ferrer let slip a 5-2 lead in the second set.
“It was a difficult match, because I was 6-4, 5-2 serving for the match three times,” Ferrer told ATPWorldTour.com. “So I didn't make it [easy for myself] and I tried in the third set to play consistently point-by-point, and finally my feelings and performance was better than Janko’s. The difference was that I still played consistently all the match. He played inconsistently. When up 6-4, 5-2, I was nervous in the important moments, and he came back into the match. But I think it was my fault.”
Ferrer now faces his Spanish compatriot Pablo Carreno Busta, who recorded a 6-3, 7-6(2) win over Mischa Zverev in one hour and 33 minutes.