RAFA RAFAEL NADAL WINS OPENING MATCH IN CINCINNATI, WAWRINKA & THIEM ALSO ADVANCE IN THE WESTERN & SOUTHERN OPEN

Written by: Staff on 17th August 2016

Western and Southern Open tennis tournament

RAFA RAFAEL NADAL WINS OPENING MATCH IN CINCINNATI, WAWRINKA & THIEM ALSO ADVANCE IN THE WESTERN & SOUTHERN OPEN

epa05494453 Rafael Nadal of Spain hits a return shot to Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay during their second round match of the Western & Southern Open tennis championships at the Linder Family Tennis Center in Mason, near Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, 17 August 2016. EPA/TANNEN MAURY |

By Ricky Dimon

Rafael Nadal made a quick turnaround on the heels of his grueling Rio Olympics by defeating Pablo Cuevas 6-1, 7-6(4) in round two of the Western & Southern Open on Wednesday evening. Nadal saved all five of the break points he faced before advancing in one hour and 30 minutes.

The Spaniard’s status for Cincinnati was a question mark after he played 11 matches in Rio de Janeiro, where he captured the doubles gold medal with Marc Lopez and finished one spot off the podium in singles. Nadal’s last two contests resulted in three-setters against Juan Martin Del Potro (semifinals) and Kei Nishikori (bronze-medal match). But he got off to a roaring start this week, rolling over Cuevas in set one with the loss of just a single game. The Uruguayan managed to make things interesting throughout the second frame of play, but Nadal saved a set point at 4-5 and eventually survived in a tiebreaker.

“I think I played well,” the former world No. 1 commented. “I think I played a good match against a tough opponent in the first round for me for sure. “After coming from Rio and after the marathon that I had, it’s a very important victory for me. So I’m very happy.”

Nadal is joined in the third round by fellow seeds Nishikori, Stan Wawrinka, Milos Raonic, Gael Monfils, Dominic Thiem, Tomas Berdych, Marin Cilic, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Wawrinka prevailed in what was a continuation of a rain-delayed tilt from Tuesday night. American wild card Jared Donaldson had some momentum the previous day, but he could not hold on and eventually succumbed to the second-seeded Swiss 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland hits a return shot to Jared Donaldson of the US in their second round match of the Western & Southern Open tennis championships at the Linder Family Tennis Center in Mason, near Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, 17 August 2016. The match was continued from 16 August because of weather. EPA/TANNEN MAURY

It was a much-needed win for Wawrinka, who has been in a minor slump since reaching the French Open semifinals. The story is a similar one for fellow Roland Garros semifinalist for Thiem, as the 22-year-old Austrian is finally paying the price for overbooking his schedule this entire season. Although he has dealt with fatigue and injury of late, Thiem managed to scrape past John Millman 7-5, 6-1 on Wednesday afternoon in Cincinnati.

Thiem and Gael Monfils will be squaring off for the second time in their careers on Thursday. Their only previous meeting came last season on the clay courts of Umag, where Thiem scored a 1-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory. Monfils enjoyed an almost identical scoreline in his Cincinnati opener on Wednesday, when he disposed of Marcos Baghdatis 7-5, 6-0. The ninth-seeded Frenchman is 35-11 this year and recently lifted the most important trophy of his career in Washington, D.C.