World No. 1 Naomi Osaka on Thursday survived a tough test against Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and eked out a 7-6 (7/3), 5-7, 6-2 victory to reach her first ever quarter-final at the Western & Southern Open.
Osaka, who lost to Hsieh at the Miami Open in March, on Wednesday said that the Taiwanese challenger is an unpredictable opponent for her, but she was ready this time around, firing 15 aces and breaking Hsieh five times.
“I thought I did pretty well,” Osaka said. “I feel like I knew going into the match that she was going to play really well. Like, we have such long matches every time we play, so I wasn’t expecting anything different this time around.”
Photo: AP
In the decisive third set, Osaka faced four break points on her opening service, but fought them all off. She then seized four straight games to take firm control.
Osaka now gets a matchup with 20-year-old American Sofia Kenin, who took down seventh seed Elina Svitolina 6-3, 7-6 (7/3).
Hsieh’s doubles hopes were also ended, after she and Czech partner Barbora Strycova retired their quarter-final against Lucie Hradecka and Andreja Klepac without a point played.
Earlier in the day, top seed Ashley Barty overcame 49 unforced errors and a stiff challenge from Anett Kontaveit to reach the quarter-finals with a 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 win.
On a day of epic three-set battles, Barty needed more than two hours to tame her Estonian rival.
Barty set up a meeting with Maria Sakkari, who needed even longer to dispatch Aryna Sabalenka 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 6-4.
Venus Williams also went the distance before claiming a 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Croatia’s Donna Vekic.
Williams has struggled at times this season, but has been resilient in Cincinnati, defeating defending champion Kiki Bertens in three sets in the previous round.
“There are no easy matches out here,” Williams said. “I cannot emphasize that enough.”
The seven-time Grand Slam champion is to have her work cut out in the next round, when she faces big-serving American Madison Keys who took down Wimbledon champ Simona Halep 6-1, 3-6, 7-5.
Third seed Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic earned a straight-sets triumph to reach the quarter-final, where she is to meet Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova.
In the men’s singles, Russian qualifier Andrey Rublev needed just 62 minutes to beat Roger Federer 6-3, 6-4 in the third round, the 20-time Grand Slam champion suffering his quickest defeat in 16 years.
The 21-year-old Rublev, who broke the Swiss third seed in his first two service games, shed tears of joy after pulling off the biggest win of his career.
“It is such an amazing feeling when you’re playing a legend like Roger and all these people supporting him until the end,” he told ESPN. “One day I hope I’m going to feel the same.”
It was Federer’s fastest defeat since losing to Franco Squillari in 54 minutes in Sydney in 2003.
Rublev set up an all-Russian quarter-final with ninth seed Daniil Medvedev, who beat German Jan-Lennard Struff 6-2, 6-1.
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic beat Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta 6-3, 6-4, saving four break points in the second set and earning his own break in the third game.
Next up for Djokovic is Frenchman Lucas Pouille, who beat eighth seed Karen Khachanov of Russia 6-7 (3/7), 6-4, 6-2.
In other matches, Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut took down Miomir Kecmanovic 6-1, 6-2 and will next face France’s Richard Gasquet.
Belgium’s David Goffin and Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka also advanced to set up a matchup.
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