Sharapova Advances, Kyrgios Out On Busy Day At US Open
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) — After a long day of waiting around, Dominic Thiem and Grigor Dimitrov made quick work of opponents when they finally did get to playing at the US Open.
The sixth-seeded Thiem beat Australian Alex de Minaur 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 on Wednesday, and No. 7 Dimitrov followed him in the Grandstand with a 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 victory over qualifier Vaclav Safranek of the Czech Republic.
Neither match lasted 2 hours, which will come in handy when they have to play again Thursday as the tournament tries to catch up after rain Tuesday prevented most matches from finishing.
No. 14 Nick Kyrgios won't be joining them, unable to overcome shoulder pain or fellow Australian John Millman and falling 6-3, 1-6, 6-4, 6-1.
Thiem had won the first two sets and the opening game of the third on Tuesday before rain eventually sent players back to the locker room. They returned Wednesday to sunny skies and perfect conditions, and Thiem took advantage.
"It was really different, the conditions, between yesterday and today, and my goal was to break immediately, and that's what I did," the Austrian said.
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Kyrgios was feeling good about his game when he arrived after making the finals in Cincinnati, beating Rafael Nadal along the way. But then he had more problems with his body after he and Millman had traded sets.
Kyrgios called for treatment early in the third, and a trainer came out and massaged his right shoulder. Kyrgios continued on, but his level of play dropped off severely before he left in frustration, smashing his racket to the court after the match and carrying the busted one with him as he exited.
"I knew that after I lost the first I knew I had to dig deep," Kyrgios said. "Played a great second set. Was feeling good. And then I don't know. I just — something didn't feel right in my arm."
There were 87 singles matches scheduled for Wednesday. Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams were among the players set for second-round matches, while many others were still playing first-round matches that either didn't finish or couldn't even start Tuesday.
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Sharapova used 12 aces to help overcome a shaky start and reach the U.S. Open's third round.
The five-time major champion got better and better Wednesday as the match wore on and came back to beat 59th-ranked Timea Babos of Hungary 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-1 in 2 hours, 19 minutes.
Sharapova is playing in her first Grand Slam tournament since serving a 15-month doping suspension. She beat No. 2 seed Simona Halep in the first round at Flushing Meadows.
Sharapova made 19 unforced errors in the opening set against Babos, but cleaned up her play, cutting the mistakes to 12 in the second set and five in the third.
Williams, the No. 9 seed, plays Oceane Dodin of France at night.
Only nine matches were able to be completed Tuesday, including victories by top-ranked Rafael Nadal and five-time champion Roger Federer.
That gives them an advantage over many men, who faced first- and second-round matches in consecutive days.
Also advancing were No. 15 Tomas Berdych, who beat American Ryan Harrison in straight sets, No. 18 Gael Monfils, who swept past fellow Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, and another Frenchman, No. 30 Adrian Mannarino, a straight-sets winner over Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis.
No. 22 Fabio Fognini and No. 26 Richard Gasquet were upset.
Fourth-seeded Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, whose match was stopped Tuesday as she faced a second set tiebreaker, lost that when she returned before beating Katerina Siniakova 6-0, 6-7 (5), 6-3. No. 14 Kristina Mladenovic of France was upset, falling 6-3, 6-2 to Romania's Monica Niculescu.
(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)