Bops-Dodig pair in Cincinnati quarters

New Delhi, August 18 

Rohan Bopanna and his Croatian partner Ivan Dodig reached the quarterfinals of the Cincinnati Masters after edging past Juan Sebastian Cabal and Fabio Fognini in a tight contest.

The seventh seeds Bopanna and Dodig rallied to humble the Colombian-Italian combo 5-7 7-5 10-8 in a second round match.

In the WTA event, being held simultaneously, Sania Mirza and Shuai Peng reached the semifinals with a 6-3 6-7(1) 10-3 win over Irina-Camelia Begu and Raluca Olaru. Bopanna and Dodig next face second seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo, who beat Diego Schwartzman and Mischa Zverev 7-5 6-2. 

Halep has top spot in sight

Cincinnati: Romanian second seed Simona Halep stayed on track for a tilt at the world No. 1 spot with a 6-4 6-3 third-round win over Anastasija Sevastova.

Caroline Wozniacki stopped the impressive run of 21-year-old Australian qualifier Ashleigh Barty 6-4 6-2 to reach the tournament’s quarterfinals for the fourth time. Svetlana Kuznetsova also reached the last eight by beating Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2 6-4.

Halep can leapfrog Karolina Pliskova as world No. 1 by winning the title, which the Czech won last year. Pliskova led Camila Giorgi of Italy 3-0 in the first set before rain suspended the match. Garbine Muguruza beat Madison Keys 6-4 3-6 7-6(3) to set up a quarterfinal against Kuznetsova.

Dimitrov beats Del Potro 

Cincinnati: Grigor Dimitrov beat big-hitting Argentine Juan Martin del Potro for the first time in six career attempts to book a place in the last eight. The seventh-seeded Bulgarian advanced to his eighth ATP World Tour Masters 1000 quarterfinal with a 6-3 7-5 victory over del Potro. 

Dominic Thiem needed two tie-breakers to dispatch France’s Adrian Mannarino 7-6(4) 7-6(3) and set up a meeting with David Ferrer, who upset 11th-seeded Pablo Carreno Busta 6-4 6-4. Rain put a halt of Australian Nick Kyrgios’ match against Ivo Karlovic with the Croatian leading 4-3 in the first set. — Agencies