Carlos Alcaraz on Thursday was halted by rain on the brink of victory, while defending women’s champion Coco Gauff crashed out in her first match at the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Open and Taiwanese there and in Colombia also exited.
Spaniard Alcaraz, the reigning Wimbledon and French Open champion, led France’s Gael Monfils 6-4, 6-6 (1/3) when rain halted play at the last major tuneup for the US Open, which is to start on Aug. 26.
Top seed Alcaraz, who lost to Novak Djokovic in last year’s Cincinnati final, took a silver medal at the Paris Olympics, also dropping that final to Djokovic.
Photo: Susan Mullane-USA Today
Alcaraz is back on hardcourt for the first time since winning the Miami Open. He skipped last week’s ATP Montreal Masters.
Men’s third seed Alexander Zverev, the 2021 champion from Germany, won his ATP-leading 50th match this season, dispatching Karen Khachanov 6-3, 6-2 in a repeat of his Tokyo Olympic final win.
Zverev, feeling poorly last week in Montreal, said his form is much improved.
Photo: Susan Mullane-USA Today
“I felt well on court. If you feel good in training it’s easier to bring it to the match,” he said. “I just hope my form can get better. I’m happy I got the win today.”
Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta is to play him next after defeating Australian Max Purcell 6-3, 6-3.
Briton Jack Draper accounted for ninth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas 3-6, 6-4, 7-5. The Greek served for the match leading 5-4 in the third set, but Draper won 12 of the last 14 points to turn the situation on its head.
Holger Rune defeated Portugal’s top player Nuno Borges 6-3, 7-6 (10/8).
Gauff was eliminated earlier in a 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 upset loss to Kazakh spoiler Yulia Putintseva.
A disappointed Gauff will go back to the drawing board before defending her US Open crown.
Putintseva, ranked 34th, has made a recent habit of upsets, knocking off top-ranked Iga Swiatek barely a month ago at Wimbledon.
“I’m really proud of myself,” Putintseva said. “These courts are so fast, you have to just play on instinct. That’s what I did.”
Gauff became Cincinnati’s youngest champion a year ago at age 19 and carried that success into her first Grand Slam triumph at the US Open.
“I have to work on consistency overall,” Gauff said. “I’m making a lot of unforced errors, especially when I was up 4-2” in the third set, Gauff said. “Most of the points [that Putintseva won] were off [my] errors. She’s tricky to play, mixes up the ball and likes drop shots. She makes you earn the match.”
Putintseva next faces Spain’s Paula Badosa, who defeated Anna Kalinskaya 6-3, 6-2.
Third seed Aryna Sabalenka polished her opening-match record at the event by defeating Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto 6-3, 6-4.
Sabalenka missed Wimbledon and the Paris Olympics with a right shoulder injury, but said that she feels well.
“I’m happy with my level in the tough moments,” Sabalenka said. “Elisabetta is a difficult opponent. She fought to the last point.”
In the women’s doubles, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei bowed out in the round-of-16.
Briton Harriet Dart and Ellen Perez of Australia eliminated Hsieh and Elise of Mertens Belgium 6-3, 7-5.
At the Barranquilla Open in Colombia, Ingrid Gamarra Martins of Brazil and the US’ Quinn Gleason beat Taiwan’s Liang En-shuo and Prarthana Thombare of India 6-2, 6-4 in their quarter-final at Parque Distrital de Raquetas.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
RSS