MILOS RAONIC, NICK KYRGIOS, & JOHN ISNER BOOTED OUT OF CINCINNATI TENNIS BY RICKY DIMON

Written by: Staff on 18th August 2015

MILOS RAONIC, NICK KYRGIOS, & JOHN ISNER BOOTED OUT OF CINCINNATI TENNIS BY RICKY DIMON

Roger Federer of Switzerland (L) hits a return shot to Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay (R) during their match in the Western & Southern Open at the Linder Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio, USA, 18 August 2015. EPA/TANNEN MAURY |

An exodus of seeds has taken place on both the men’s and women’s sides at the Western & Southern Open. Two men’s seeds were added to the list on Tuesday when both Milos Raonic and John Isner bowed out in the first round.

Raonic, who has been dealing with a foot injury and also lost early last week in Montreal, fell to Feliciano Lopez 7-6(4), 6-4. The Canadian did not break a single time against Lopez, so one donation of his own serve in the second set proved to be his undoing.

Unlike Raonic, Isner had been in outstanding form this summer. The 6’10” American won the Atlanta title, finished runner-up in Washington, D.C., and reached the Montreal quarterfinal.

Sam Querrey of the US hits a return shot to John Isner of the US during their first round match at the Western & Southern Open at the Linder Family Tennis Center in Mason, near Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, 18 August 2015. EPA/TANNEN MAURY

But a lingering knee problem left him far less than 100 percent against good friend and countryman Sam Querrey. Moving gingerly, Isner never had any chance to break his opponent’s serve. He managed to battle into a second-set tiebreaker, but Querrey had little trouble sealing the deal 6-3, 7-6(3).

“I thought I played well,” said Querrey. “I know he was a little wobbled there in the first set, but besides that I felt I did everything well. Returned well. Did everything. Forehand and backhand were solid. Didn’t make many mistakes. I was happy how I played.”

It has not been a happy last seven days for Nick Kyrgios, who embroiled himself in a controversy after firing a well-documented personal insult at Stan Wawrinka in Montreal. Kyrgios got a retirement from the Swiss but then got clobbered by Isner in round three.

The 20-year-old Australian suffered another loss on Tuesday and got injured in the process A lower-back issue contributed to his 6-2, 6-1 setback against Richard Gasquet.

Briefs

* Raonic loses to Lopez, guarantees no top eight seed at the U.S. Open

* Lopez downs Raonic, needs two more wins for chance at top 20

* Gasquet eases past Kyrgios, can still snag top 12 seed in New York

* Tsonga crashes out to Verdasco, ends hopes for top 16 seed in NYC

* Verdasco survives in three sets, can reach top 40 with one more victory

* Coric outlasts Zverev, can bag a U.S. Open seed by reaching third round

* Dolgopolov pounds Tomic, will make double-digit move well into top 60

* Donaldson finishes off Mahut , also to jump double-digits near top 140

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

Topics: Atp World Tour, Cincinnati, Cincy Tennis, John Isner, milos raonic, Nick Kyrgios, Ricky Dimon, Sports, Tennis News, Western & Southern Open

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10sBalls_com says:

August 18, 2015 at 8:52 pm

-@milosraonic, @NickKyrgios, & @JohnIsner BOOTED OUT OF #Cincinnati #tennis BY @Dimonator- http://t.co/fbUtVnxAjO @CincyTennis #CincyTennis