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Djokovic into semis at Cincinnati

Published 08/17/2018, 08:55 PM
Updated 08/17/2018, 09:01 PM
© Reuters. Tennis: Western & Southern Tennis Open

© Reuters. Tennis: Western & Southern Tennis Open

Novak Djokovic claimed victory twice on Friday to advance to the semifinals of the Western & Southern Open at Mason, Ohio.

The 10th-seeded Serbian first finished his rain-delayed third-round match against fifth-seeded Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 triumph, before ousting Canadian Milos Raonic 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 in 2 hours, 29 minutes in the quarterfinals.

Rain wreaked havoc on Thursday's schedule, leading to several players having to take the court twice on Friday. That includes fifth-seeded Argentine Juan Martin del Potro and second-seeded Swiss Roger Federer, who will each play their quarterfinal matches later Friday.

Del Potro defeated 15th-seeded Australian Nick Kyrgios 7-6 (4), 6-7 (6), 6-2 in his early match, while Federer cruised past Argentina's Leonardo Mayer 6-1, 7-6 (6).

Djokovic is a five-time finalist at the Cincinnati-area event but has never won the title. He moved a step closer with his victory over Raonic to improve to 9-0 in his career against the Canadian.

Djokovic broke Raonic's serve twice in a row to close the first set before he had his serve broken in what was otherwise a back-and-forth second set. In the decisive third, the Serbian fell behind a break at 2-1 before converting his fourth break-point chance in the next game. He seized the momentum from there, winning four of the last five games.

In the semifinals, Djokovic will face seventh-seeded Croatian Marin Cilic, who downed 13th-seeded Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta 7-6 (7), 6-4 in his second match of the day.

Cilic was knotted with Russia's Karen Khachanov in the third set of their rain-delayed third-round match before ultimately winning, 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-4.

Despite pulling double duty, Cilic got the better of Carreno Busta in what was a lengthy first-set tiebreaker, finally clinching it on his fourth set point. The second set was more straightforward, as Cilic never faced a break point on his way to claiming victory in 1 hour, 45 minutes.

Djokovic is 14-2 in his career against Cilic, who won his lone Masters 1000 title at Cincinnati two years ago. Cilic missed last year's event with an abductor injury.

© Reuters. Tennis: Western & Southern Tennis Open

Federer's late match Friday is against wild-card compatriot Stan Wawrinka, who finished a 6-4, 6-3 defeat of Hungarian Marton Fucsovics earlier in the day. Del Potro is facing 11th-seeded Belgian David Goffin, a 6-2, 6-4 winner over sixth-seeded South African Kevin Anderson in another rain-delayed match.

--Field Level Media

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