Rafael Nadal extended his spotless record against Richard Gasquet, while unseeded US teenager Frances Tiafoe upset Alexander Zverev to reach the third round of the Western & Southern Open in the Cincinnati suburb of Mason, Ohio, on Wednesday.
It must have felt like deja vu for the Frenchman, who fell 6-3, 6-4 to drop to 0-15 against Nadal. Gasquet last won a set against the Spaniard in 2008.
Nadal, who repelled the only break point he faced in the match, served out the match at love in the 10th game, firing in three aces, including the finishing point.
Photo: AFP
“I work every day to play better. It’s obvious that was an important start for me, a good one,” said French Open champion Nadal, who is to claim the world No. 1 spot on Monday. “Now I have another opportunity tomorrow to go on court and play.”
The 15-times Grand Slam winner next faces fellow Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas, who eliminated Nadal’s Wimbledon conqueror, 16th seed Gilles Muller of Luxembourg, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.
World No. 7 Zverev, who stunned Roger Federer in the Montreal final last week after claiming the title in Washington, was on a 10-match winning streak, but faded in the final set against energetic baseliner Tiafoe, who won 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Photo: AP
It was 19-year-old Tiafoe’s first win over a top-10 player and he bounded around the court in joy, thumping his chest to a standing ovation after Zverev floated a backhand long on match point with his third unforced error of the final game.
“I saw he was a bit tired, but he was still competing. It was tough. I was happy to get through it,” 87th-ranked Tiafoe told the Tennis Channel. “My game plan was to keep the rallies long and keep him out there and that’s what I did.”
Tiafoe faces John Isner next.
Earlier, Bulgarian seventh seed Grigor Dimitrov beat Feliciano Lopez 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 to set up a quarter-final clash with Juan Martin del Potro.
Del Potro advanced with a 6-4, 6-4 win over American qualifier Mitchell Krueger, winning each set on a late break.
Australian Nick Kyrgios beat Ukraine’s Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-3, 7-6 (8/6) to reach the third round, where he faces unseeded Croatian Ivo Karlovic.
In the women’s draw, Karolina Pliskova celebrated her return to the tournament that helped launch her rise to world No. 1 with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Russian Natalia Vikhlyantseva in the second round.
Two celebrated seeds fell, with No. 3 Angelique Kerber and ninth-seeded Venus Williams upset in three-setters, disrupting their US Open preparations.
Kerber lost 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (13/11) to Russian Ekaterina Makarova, while Williams was upset 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 by Australian qualifier Ashleigh Barty.
Barty faces former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, a 6-2, 6-4 winner against Russia’s Elena Vesnina.
Top seed Pliskova rose to the occasion on the key points.
Next up for the 25-year-old Czech is a third-round match against Italian Camila Giorgi, who beat Australian Daria Gavrilova 7-6 (7/1), 5-7, 6-3.
US 16th seed Madison Keys beat Russian Daria Kasatkina 6-2, 6-1 to reach the quarter-finals, where she faces Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza of Spain.
In the women’s doubles, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Chan Yung-jan advanced in their matches.
Hsieh and partner Monica Niculescu of Romania defeated France’s Kristina Mladenovic and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia 6-7 (6/4), 7-5, 10-8, while Chan and Martina Hingis of Switzerland advanced to the quarter-finals after beating the US pairing of Raquel Atawo and Coco Vandeweghe 6-4, 4-6, 10-7.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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