Serena Williams pumped her fist after each emphatic point during a two-set victory over Tsvetana Pironkova on Wednesday, a solid start at defending her Cincinnati title.
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Benoit Paire might have been swept aside in straight sets by Novak Djokovic, but this Cincinnati Masters match will be remembered for the Frenchman’s cheeky shot.
After seeing a 4-1 first-set advantage erased, Djokovic broke late to take the opener 6-4. Third-seeded Andy Murray and eight-seeded Rafael Nadal also advanced in rain-delayed matches that ended after midnight.
“Whether I do or not, I’m going to try win it this year or next year and just keep going for that”.
After building an early lead on Thursday, Djokovic tossed in a klunker of a second set that featured four double-faults and two breaks of serve by Goffin.
“What happened people don’t see exactly what the consequences are for everybody so I’m trying to put away”.
Stanislas Wawrinka, of Switzerland, returns the ball to Borna Coric, of Croatia, at the Western & Southern Open tennis tournament, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2015, in Mason, Ohio.
Tuesday night at the Western & Southern Open, both Roger Federer and Venus Williams will play their second round on Center Court, but they weren’t the only big names hanging out around the Lindner Tennis Center. [But] I did have some good training weeks physically and on the court, but also time to think about that and not have to worry about playing a match the next day.
The first set was dominated by serve, without a significant threat of a break point ever mustered by either player.
Djokovic and Swiss Wawrinka will now meet for the 22nd time on Friday, but it will be their first clash since Wawrinka’s triumph at Roland Garros in June.
In other matches, 12th-seed Richard Gasquet beat Kokkinakis 7-6(5) 6-2 while South Africa’s Kevin Anderson beat American Jack Sock 6-3 7-6(6).
Elsewhere, Alexandr Dolgopolov defeated Jerzy Janowicz 6-3 3-6 6-4, and Tomas Berdych hammered Tommy Robredo 6-0 6-1.
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French Open champion Wawrinka said he had yet to receive an apology from Nick Kyrgios for the Australian’s incendiary comment during their match last week.
