Reuters
Cincinnati, August 20: World No. 1 Novak Djokovic cruised through his opening match at the Cincinnati Masters here Wednesday, while Stan Wawrinka had to dig deep to beat Borna Coric and conceded his thoughts had been far from tennis over the past few days.
Andy Murray had a tough second round outing against Mardy Fish but came through 6-4, 7-6 (7-1), while Rafa Nadal also advanced after beating Jeremy Chardy.
French Open champion Wawrinka said he had yet to receive an apology from Nick Kyrgios for the Australian’s incendiary comment during their match last week. He admitted after his victory Wednesday that the past week had been difficult.
“For the past few days for sure my head was not really into the tennis,” Wawrinka told ‘Sky Sports’ after his 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 win over Croatian teen Coric.
“Today (Wednesday) I’m happy with the way I fight. I was playing really bad tennis but most important is the win,” he added.
Djokovic bruished aside Benoit Paire 7-5, 6-2 to set up a third-round clash with Belgian 13th seed David Goffin.
Murray was given a thorough test by the 33-year-old Fish, who has said he will retire after the US Open.
After taking the first set 6-4, Murray let frustration creep into his game and he smashed his racquet after being broken in the 11th game of the second set, which gave the American the chance to serve out to even the match.
Murray broke right back, however, then dominated the tiebreak to close the match out after midnight.
“I forgot how tricky Mardy was to play against,” Murray said after improving his career record to 5-4 against Fish.
“He takes the ball incredibly early and the ball comes off his racquet so quick sometimes. I found it very tough,” he added.
Eighth seed Nadal beat Frenchman Chardy 6-3, 6-4. The Spaniard showed some positive signs of returning to form but still had to stave off nine break points.