Cincinnati: Juan Martin del Potro advanced to the second round of the Cincinnati Masters with a 3-6, 7-6 (1), 6-0 upset of 10th-seeded Tomas Berdych yesterday.
The 30th-ranked del Potro shook off a first-set loss, jumping out to a 4-1 lead in the second set before settling for a win in the tiebreak, which he led 5-0 and clinched with an ace.
He built on his momentum by rolling through the third set against the Wimbledon semi-finalist, improving to 12-0 in first-round matches this season.
Berdych was playing his first match since withdrawing from last week’s Rogers Cup in Montreal with a rib injury
Ninth-seeded David Goffin became the first seeded man to be knocked out in Cincinnati, falling to Nick Kyrgios, 6-2, 6-3 in a first-round match yesterday.
Kyrgios will meet qualifier Alexandr Dolgopolov in the second round after Dolgopolov defeated Kevin Anderson 6-4, 7-6 (6). Also, Karen Khachanov beat Diego Schwartzman 6-1, 1-6, 6-3.
Albert Ramos-Vinolas needed three sets to get past qualifier Mikhail Youzhny 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.
Victorious
Meanwhile, ninth-seeded Venus Williams cruised into the women’s second round at this US Open warmup, needing just 66 minutes to dispatch fellow American Alison Riske 6-2, 6-0. Venus will next face Ashleigh Barty, who beat Varvara Lepchenko 6-4, 6-4 in a matchup of two qualifiers.
Another qualifier, Aleksandra Krunic, advanced with a 6-4, 6-2 upset of 12th-seeded Jelena Ostapenko, while 10th-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska was knocked out by unseeded Julia Goerges 6-4, 6-4.
In another women’s first-round match, Natalia Vikhlyantseva, who lost in qualifying but earned a berth when Maria Sharapova withdrew, advanced with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 win over qualifier Donna Vekic.
No. 10 Milos Raonic withdrew from the Masters series tournament because of a left wrist injury, tournament officials said. With Raonic’s withdrawal, the tournament has now lost seven of the top 10 players in the men’s rankings. No. 3 Roger Federer and No. 9 Kei Nishikori withdrew Monday. No. 1 Andy Murray, No. 4 Stan Wawrinka, No. 5 Novak Djokovic and No. 6 Marin Cilic — the defending champion — withdrew before the tournament started. No. 2 Rafael Nadal, the top-seeded player, remains in the draw and will return to No. 1 when new ATP rankings are released Aug. 21.