W&S Open notebook: Iga Swiatek dominates, a very Lucky Loser, Venus Williams falls short
MASON, Ohio − In her first match since losing a thriller to American No. 1 Jessica Pegula in a 'Cotton-Eye Joe' filled semifinal in the Canadian Open on Aug. 12, Iga Swiatek began her singles run at the Western & Southern Open with a dominating performance Wednesday afternoon.
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Playing on center court, the 22-year-old right-hander from Poland showed why she's the World No. 1 in dispatching American wild card Danielle Collins in straight sets 6-1, 6-0 in just under an hour.
"It was a really solid match and I felt I'm not (committing) a lot of mistakes," Swiatek said. "I'm happy I didn't give anything for free."
It was a rematch of the Canadian Open quarterfinals, which Swiatek won in a competitive three-set clash 6-3, 4-6, 6-2. There was no drama on Wednesday, though, as Swiatek viciously attacked the second serve, won 7 of 11 break points and took advantage of five double faults from the American.
"For us, the priority between tournaments is to recover well, for me to be fresh," Swiatek said. "Today wasn't the perfect situation, but I knew that I already had plenty of quick transitions between tournaments in my career and it was fine."
Swiatek came to Cincinnati as the No. 1 player in the WTA standings and will hold that until the U.S. Open in New York next week, the final Grand Slam of the season. But success at the Lindner Family Tennis Center is key in holding off Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, whose second-round exit at the Canadian Open ensured Swiatek would remain at the summit of the rankings.
Venus Williams falls after strong opening set
On Monday, 43-year-old Venus Williams opened the Western & Southern Open with a stunning first-round victory over No. 16 Veronika Kudermetova. It was Williams' first win over a top 20 opponent in four years.
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In Wednesday's Grandstand match, Williams was attempting to become the lowest-ranked player (No. 533) to reach the Round of 16 in Cincinnati but couldn't capitalize after dominating China's Qinwen Zheng in the first set 6-1.
Zheng trailed early in the second set, but went on a tear, breezing past the seven-time Grand Slam Champion for a 6-2 win, then a 6-1 thrashing in the third. Zheng took control of the majority of rallies and notched a half-dozen aces.
Zheng, ranked No. 24, is the third Chinese woman to reach the Round of 16 in Cincinnati, joining Li Na and Zhang Shuai.
Zheng will face World No. 1 Iga Swiatek for a spot in the quarterfinals.
A very Lucky Loser
Alexei Popyrin's Western & Southern Open appeared over when he lost in the second round of the qualifying rounds to Max Purcell in three sets. The 24-year-old Australian was granted a second chance as the "Lucky Loser," a name given to a player who lost in qualifying but gets into the main draw when others withdraw. He replaced No. 11 Karen Khachanov, who had a back injury.
On Tuesday, against another Lucky Loser, Daniel Altmaier, who replaced three-time Grand Slam Champion Andy Murray (abdominal strain), Popyrin won in three sets. A few hours later, Popyrin's second-round opponent, Nicolas Jarry, withdrew from the tournament to fly back to Chile for the birth of his second child.
Popyrin, ranked No. 58, went from out of the tournament to the first player through to the Round of 16 in just a few hours.
Did his luck continue? Popyrin was likely going to play No. 7 Andrey Rublev in the third round, but he was upset by Emil Ruusuvuori of Finland on Tuesday. Ruusuvuori and Popyrin will play for a spot in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
Cincinnati native Peyton Stearns falls in doubles, ending tournament
The Western & Southern Open is over for Mason native and fan favorite Peyton Stearns. The 21-year-old fell in the first round of the singles draw on Tuesday against No. 14 Daria Kasatkina, but picked up her first main draw win at the tournament she grew up attending Tuesday night when she, along with partner Emma Navarro, notched a first-round doubles victory.
Peyton Stearns: Cincinnati native falls in 1st round of W&S Open, advances in doubles
The tandem of Stearns/Navarro fell in the second round of the doubles draw to the pair of American Desirae Krawczyk and Demi Schuurs of The Netherlands. Stearns/Navarro won the first set 7-6 (4), but Krawczyk-Schuurs rallied in the second set (6-3) and used that momentum for a 10-4 victory in the tiebreaker.
Fellow Cincinnati native and main draw wildcard JJ Wolf fell in the first round of singles Tuesday night against Alex de Minaur of Australia.
Americans Coco Gauff, Francis Tiafoe see mixed results
In the nightcap on Center Court, Gauff defeated Egyptian Mayar Sherif 6-2, 6-2. The young American used a balanced attack of skillful play both at the net and on the baseline to draw Sherif into long points that, more often than not, ended in unforced errors.
Gauff will will face Linda Noskova in the round of 16. She joins fellow countrywoman Jessica Pegula as the two remaining Americans. Pegula defeated Gauff less than just over one week ago in Canada. Should the two meet in Mason, that match would not occur until Sunday's championship.
Meanwhile on the Grandstand, No. 10-ranked Tiafoe could not continue his tournament against Switzerland's Stan Wawrinka, falling 6-3, 6-4. Tiafoe, who is known for his energy and charisma on the court, looked nothing more than frustrated as Wawrinka won crucial points with a variety of shots.
Tiafoe summoned the crowd in the second set, rallying to get within five games to four, but Wawrinka closed out the amtch by winning four straight points, capping off the night's action with an ace into the corner.
Warwinka moves on to face Max Purcell on Thursday, Aug. 17 after Purcell was granted a walkover victory over Casper Ruud.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Western & Southern Open: Iga Swiatek dominates, Venus Williams falls
