South Africa’s Kevin Anderson on Thursday upset top seed Dominic Thiem while Japanese second seed Kei Nishikori won a battle of past champions to advance at the ATP Citi Open.
Anderson endured a three-hour rain delay and saved a match point before firing his 21st ace to finish off seventh-ranked Thiem 6-3, 6-7 (6/8), 7-6 (9/7) after 2 hours, 46 minutes and reach the Washington hard-court quarter-finals.
Thiem, in his first hard-court tune-up for the US Open, fell to 0-6 lifetime against Anderson, all on hard courts, but managed to swipe a set from his 45th-ranked nemesis for only the second time in his career.
Photo: AFP
Nishikori, the 2015 Washington winner, beat three-time champion Juan Martin Del Potro 6-4, 7-5 for only his second victory in seven matches against the Argentine 13th seed.
That was the second early-morning finish in as many matches for Nishikori, who faces US wild card Tommy Paul next.
Paul, who has never faced Nishikori, has ousted seventh seed Lucas Pouille and 11th seed Gilles Muller.
Russia’s Daniil Medvedev upset Bulgarian fourth seed Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-2 to reach a last-match clash with Germany’s eighth-ranked Alexander Zverev, who beat American Tennys Sandgren 7-5, 7-5 just before 2am after killing time with a nap and video games.
Anderson saved a match point when Thiem netted a backhand to level the last tiebreaker at 6-6, then hit a forehand winner to set up a match point that Thiem erased with a service winner.
However, Thiem sent a backhand wide on the penultimate point and Anderson blasted an ace wide to reach his fourth Washington quarter-final, matching his best result.
After an early exchange of third-set breaks, Anderson double-faulted on a break point to hand Thiem a 4-3 edge. However, Thiem was broken in the 10th game while serving for the match.
Next up for Anderson is 200th-ranked Indian qualifier Yuki Bhambri, who eliminated Argentina’s 100th-ranked Guido Pella 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 6-1.
Anderson has never shared a court with Bhambri, except in workouts.
Canadian third seed Milos Raonic, the 2014 Washington champion, defeated Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis 7-6 (9/7), 6-3 to book a quarter-final against US eighth seed Jack Sock, who downed compatriot Jared Donaldson 7-6 (8/6), 6-2.
In women’s singles, world No. 2 Simona Halep battled through extreme heat to advance to the quarter-finals, while Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard was ousted by Germany’s Andrea Petkovic.
French Open runner-up Halep, the top-seeded woman on the Washington hard courts, rallied past Colombia’s Mariana Duque-Marino 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 in withering heat she measured at 47°C on the court.
World No. 102 Petkovic, a former top-10 player and French Open semi-finalist on the comeback trail, ousted 73rd-ranked Bouchard 6-2, 4-6, 6-0.
Petkovic advanced to a quarter-final against 17-year-old Canadian Bianca Andreescu, who won her first WTA main draw matches this week, including Thursday’s 6-2, 6-3 triumph over French second seed Kristina Mladenovic.
It was the first time in WTA history a player born in the 21st century had beaten a top-20 player.
Halep dropped the first set in 28 minutes, losing her serve in the second game and never forcing a break point against her South American foe.
The 25-year-old Romanian battled back and booked a last-eight date with Russian seventh seed Ekaterina Makarova.
Halep is 3-1 all-time against Makarova, losing only in a 2015 Australian Open quarter-final.
German fourth seed Julia Goerges was yesterday to face Romanian sixth seed Monica Niculescu, who eliminated compatriot Patricia Maria Tig 6-4, 7-6 (7/2).
Germany’s Sabine Lisicki defeated Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. Lisicki was yesterday to face French fifth seed Oceane Dodin in the other quarter-final.
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