Veteran campaigner David Ferrer of Spain reached the quarterfinals of the Western & Southern Open after beating compatriot Pablo Carreno Busta, 6-4, 6-4, Thursday. With the win, Ferrer reached his first quarterfinals at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 level since the Rolex Paris Masters in November 2015. Ferrer, who made it to the finals of this event in 2015, will next face third seed Dominic Thiem of Austria, who defeated Frenchman Adrian Mannarino, 7-6(4), 7-6(3). In their last clash, Thiem beat Ferrer in the quarterfinals of the Rio Open.
Despite his advantage over Ferrer, Thiem said he’s anticipating a tough match against the Spaniard, who hit 14 winners in his 77-minute win over Carreno Busta.
Thiem, ranked No. 8 in the world, reached the Cincinnati quarter-finals for a second straight year by beating Mannarino in two hours, improving his record against the Frenchman to 5-0.
Jared Donaldson reached quarterfinals
Fresh from his victory over world No. 14 Roberto Bautista Agut, Jared Donaldson advanced to his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 quarterfinal with a 6-4, 7-6(4) win over Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia. Before this win, Donaldson was 0-13 in Round of 16 matches. He also avenged his 2015 and 2016 losses to Basilashvili in the final round of the French Open qualifying. For a spot in the semifinal, Donaldson will face a tough challenge in John Isner, who made the finals of this tournament in 2013.
Isner booked a spot in the quarterfinal via a 7-6(4), 7-5 win over Frances Tiafoe in one hour and 40 minutes.
Grigor Dimitrov ended losing streak
Grigor Dimitrov snapped his five-match losing streak to Juan Martin del Potro with a 6-3, 7-5 victory to reach his eighth ATP World Tour Masters 1000 quarterfinal. Dimitrov capitalized on the intense heat that affected his opponent on his way to victory in one hour and 39 minutes.
Dimitrov raced to a 3-0 lead and never looked back as he took the first set. Del Potro bounced back in the second set, taking a 3-0 lead but the heat took a toll on him, allowing Dimitrov to recover. At 6-5, a doctor was called to look at del Potro, who insisted on finishing the match.
Dimitrov will go for his second straight Cincinnati semifinal when he goes up against Yuichi Sugita of Japan.
In their lone encounter, Dimitrov defeated Sugita in Canada in three sets. Sugita, for his part, reached his first Masters 1000 quarterfinal after beating Karen Khachanov of Russia, 6-7(0), 6-3, 6-3, in two hours
