Del Potro makes winning return to Cincinnati

CINCINNATI, Ohio: Juan Martin del Potro made a winning return to the Cincinnati Open on Tuesday when the Argentine ground out a 3-6 7-6(1) 6-0 victory over 10th-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych to reach the second round on Tuesday.

The 28-year-old, back here after a four-year absence from the US Open warmup event, powered down 17 aces to rally past Berdych after he surrendered the opening set following a listless start.

Berdych found his rhythm early in the match and broke Del Potro for a 3-1 lead and did not lose a point on his powerful serve until the 10th game.But as Del Potro, a semi-finalist at the tournament in 2012 and 2013, worked his way back into the match, Berdych slowly began to lose confidence and failed to win a single game in the deciding set.

“During the second set, in the end, I played my best tennis,” 2009 US Open champion Del Potro told reporters.“I hit so sure with my forehand. I made good serves and I took all my chances to win. Mentally, I was strong enough to keep fighting and I think he got down after losing that second set.

“Then, when I broke his serve early in the third (set), my game started improving and I played much better than him.”Del Potro advances to meet American qualifier Mitchell Krueger in the second round.

Australian Nick Kyrgios also opened his campaign with a welcome victory as the world number 23 beat Belgian ninth seed David Goffin 6-2 6-3 in the afternoon heat to reach the second round.

Other than in the first game when he had to climb out of a 0-40 hole, Kyrgios experienced few problems on serve and even secured three breaks against Goffin, who had to take a medical time out for a knee injury during the match.

“He obviously wasn’t at 100 percent today but you know I’m not at 100 percent either, so it was a bit of a battle,” said Kyrgios, who has struggled with an array of injuries throughout the season.

“But I served well at crucial moments. I’m feeling okay. I think as long as I can keep putting in performances like these and being able to compete I think I’m okay.”In other action, third seed Dominic Thiem of Austria was barely tested in his 6-3 6-2 second-round win over Italy’s Fabio Fognini, while Jack Sock beat fellow American Tommy Paul 6-3 6-3 to reach the round of 16.

Earlier in the day, big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic, the sixth seed, announced his withdrawal from the tournament due to a lingering left wrist injury.On the women’s side, Wimbledon winner Garbine Muguruza, and second-ranked Simona Halep cruised into the third round.

Romania’s Halep, hoping to overtake Czech Karolina Pliskova for the world number one ranking this week, downed US qualifier Taylor Townsend 6-4, 6-1, while Spain’s sixth-ranked Muguruza ousted Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-2, 6-0.

“I’m happy to be into the third round,” Muguruza said.After trading four service breaks in the first six games, Halep took 11 of the last 12 to dispatch Townsend in 66 minutes.US ninth seed Venus Williams downed compatriot Alison Riske 6-2, 6-0 to book a second-round match with Australian qualifier Ashleigh Barty.

French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia was ousted by Serbian qualifier Aleksandra Krunic 6-4, 6-2 while Russian lucky loser Natalia Vikhlyantseva beat Croatia’s Donna Vekic 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 to book a matchup with Czech women’s world number one Karolina Pliskova.