Cincinnati

Madison Keys, Daniil Medvedev Win Cincinnati Titles

August 18, 2019 by tennisbloggers

Madison Keys and Daniil Medvedev each produced signature triumphs of their early careers on Sunday by winning the Western & Southern Open singles titles in Cincinnati.

Keys defeated former US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, 7-5, 7-6(5) to win her second title of 2019 and first at a Premier 5 event. The victory means the 24-year-old Orlando resident will return to the Top 10 at No. 10 and become the second-highest-ranked American, behind No. 8 Serena Williams.

Medvedev, appearing in his third singles final in as many weeks, won his first ATP Masters 1000 crown, defeating Belgium’s David Goffin, 7-6(3), 6-4. The 23-year-old Russian, the youngest Cincinnati champion since 21-year-old Andy Murray in 2008, is projected to reach a new career-high ranking on Monday, at No. 5, becoming the first Russian in the Top 5 since No. 5 Nikolay Davydenko in June 2010.

The US Open Series wraps up this week with the Winston-Salem Open in North Carolina. Tennis Channel will have weeklong cover from Winston-Salem, through to Saturday’s singles final at 5 p.m. ET. View the full television schedule here.

Novak Djokovic and Kiki Bertens Win Western & Southern Open Titles

August 19, 2018 by tennisbloggers

Novak Djokovic did what no player has ever done before, winning his first title at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati to complete the ‘Career Golden Masters,’ by winning all nine ATP Masters 1000 events.

Djokovic took down Roger Federer, 6-4, 6-4, on Sunday, to improve to 24-22 in their storied rivalry and deny Federer his 99th career title and eighth in Cincinnati. The two hadn’t played since the 2016 Australian Open, and Djokovic’s latest triumph gives him 31 career ATP Masters 1000 titles, two shy of all-time leader Rafael Nadal’s 33.

In the women’s championship, Kiki Bertens took down No. 1 Simona Halep, 2-6, 7-6(6), 6-2, to win the biggest of her six career WTA titles and her first at a hard-court event. Bertens saved a match point in the second-set tiebreak to notch her 10th win over a Top 10-ranked opponent this year and improve her record in North America to 15-3 this year. Twenty-year-old Belarussian Aryna Sabalenka also had an impressive week, upending three seeded players to reach the semifinals.

The US Open Series concludes this week with the women’s Connecticut Open in New Haven and the men’s Winston-Salem Open in North Carolina. The Connecticut Open field features five Top-10 players, as well as Americans CoCo Vandeweghe and Danielle Collins. Americans in Winston-Salem include Sam Querrey, Steve Johnson, Taylor Fritz, Ryan Harrison and Tennys Sandgren.

ESPN’s family of networks will carry weeklong coverage from both tournaments. Early-round matches from New Haven and Winston-Salem will be delivered live on ESPN3 and stream live on the ESPN app. ESPN2 will pick up its coverage with Friday’s semifinals and will air Saturday’s finals, at 3 p.m. (New Haven) and 5 p.m. (Winston-Salem). See the full summer TV schedule here.

Garbine Muguruza, Grigor Dimitrov Win Cincinnati Titles

August 20, 2017 by tennisbloggers

Garbine Muguruza and Grigor Dimitrov each won their first titles in the United States on Sunday at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, each exhibiting top form ahead of the US Open.

The Wimbledon champion Muguruza cruised by Simona Halep, 6-1, 6-0, in 56 minutes, and will ascend to No. 3 in the rankings on Monday, which determine the seedings in New York. The 23-year old Spaniard won her fifth WTA title by defeating both the No. 1 and No. 2 players in the world in the same week, after taking out top-ranked Karolina Pliskova in the semifinals and No. 2 Halep on Sunday, marking the first time a player has done that on the WTA tour since 2012.

Dimitrov ousted Aussie Nick Kyrgios, 6-3, 7-5, to win his first ATP Masters 1000 title in both players’ first appearance in a Masters 1000 final. The 26-year old Bulgarian didn’t drop a set all week en route to winning the first Masters 1000 final contested between two players born in 1990. After Alexander Zverev’s victory over Roger Federer in Montreal, this marks the first summer in the US Open Series’ 14 years that none of the Big Four won one of the Series’ two Masters events.

The US Open Series concludes this week with the women’s Connecticut Open in New Haven and the men’s Winston-Salem Open in North Carolina. The Connecticut Open field is led by defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska and includes three-time champion Petra Kvitova. In Winston-Salem, two-time champion and North Carolina native John Isner headlines a field that includes Americans Steve Johnson, Donald Young and Taylor Fritz, along with #NextGen players Andrey Rublev and Hyeon Chung.

Fans can join the conversation by using hashtag #USOpenSeries and by following @usopen. Fans can share their experiences at US Open Series tournaments using hashtag #MyUSOpenSeries.

About the US Open Series
Now in its 14th season, the world’s best players on the WTA and ATP World Tour are coming together for the US Open Series. Linking seven summer WTA and ATP World Tour tournaments to the US Open, the US Open Series serves as a true “regular season” of hard court tennis. Featuring a cohesive schedule, the Series centralizes the way tennis is viewed in North America, across multiple television and digital platforms. Fans will see today’s top champions go head-to-head with tomorrow’s emerging stars, as storylines develop throughout the summer season. Each tournament also engages its local community with a variety of outreach initiatives, including grass-roots youth tennis clinics and activities.

About the WTA
The WTA is the global leader in women’s professional sport with more than 2,500 players representing nearly 100 nations competing for a record $139 million in prize money. The 2017 WTA competitive season includes 55 events and four Grand Slams in 32 countries.

About the ATP World Tour
The ATP World Tour, with 63 tournaments in 31 countries, showcases the finest male athletes competing in the world’s most exciting venues. From Australia to Europe and the Americas to Asia, the stars of the 2017 ATP World Tour will battle for prestigious titles and Emirates ATP Rankings points at ATP World Tour Masters 1000, 500 and 250 events, as well as Grand Slams (non ATP events).

Cheers! Roger Federer beats Novak Djokovic In No. 1 vs. No. 2 Cincinnati Final

August 19, 2012 by tennisbloggers

Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Moet! — Novak Djokovic (left) and Roger Federer celebrate their historic final match in the 2012 Western & Southern Open with bottles of Moet & Chandon.

For the first time in the history of Western & Southern Financial Masters, the No. 1 and No. 2 ATP-ranked players competed in the final.
It was the Roger Federer, the world No. 1, who emerged victorious, defeating the No. 2 ranked Novak Djokovic 6-0, 7-6 (7) Sunday at the tournament that started play in 1899 and is the oldest tennis tournament in the United States played in its original city.
The win for Federer gave him his record-breaking fifth title in Cincinnati, and a record-tying 21^st “Masters 1000” level ATP tournament title, tying Rafael Nadal for the most all time.
Federer won the title without losing a set and without losing his serve, facing only three break points the entire week.
“Looking back, it’s just unbelievable,” Federer told reporters after the match. “This was probably the best week for me here in Cincinnati. I didn’t lose a set. This is very sweet, no doubt about it.”
He won the first set 6-0 in only 20 minutes – his first ever bagel set against Djokovic, who won only 10 points.

“I was hoping for a good start, but not like that,” Federer said.Said Djokovic, “It was a final today, so I really wanted to win. There is no question about it. Maybe playing couple weeks in a row, four weeks in a row, got to me maybe mentally. Physically it didn’t. I felt OK on the court.”The Cincinnati title was also Federer’s 76^th career singles title, one shy of John McEnroe’s third-place tally of 77 singles titles. Only Jimmy Connors (109 titles) and Ivan Lendl (94 titles) have won more men’s singles titles than McEnroe and Federer in a career.Federer will be the No. 1 seed at the US Open that begin August 27. Djokovic will be the defending champion and the No. 2 seed. The tournament was Federer’s first since winning Olympic silver at the London Games, losing to gold medalist Andy Murray. Djokovic, who lost in the Olympic bronze medal match to Juan Martin del Potro, won the title in Toronto last week.

To read more about tennis history, including many of the records that Federer is breaking, pick up THE BUD COLLINS HISTORY OF TENNIS here http://www.amazon.com/The-Collins-History-Tennis-Authoritative/dp/0942257707/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345399400&sr=8-1&keywords=bud+collins+history+of+tennis. To read more about Roger Federer, pick the Rene Stauffer-authored biography of him ROGER FEDERER: QUEST FOR PERFECTION atwww.RogerFedererBook.com