Roger Federer began his US Open preparation with a comprehensive 6-4, 6-4 defeat of Peter Gojowczyk in a first ATP Cincinnati Masters appearance since 2015.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion, who turned 37 last week, is pacing his tennis year, playing a limited schedule and missing events when he feels the need to rest. He has missed the last two editions of this tournament because of injury.
Meanwhile, eighth-seeded Petra Kvitova used her precision serve to overpower Serena Williams 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 in a second round match on Tuesday. Federer’s defeat of the 47th-ranked German in 72 minutes marked the first step towards a possible eighth title at the tournament.
“I felt good in that first match, to be honest, walking out, hardly any nerves. I think I knew what I had to do,” Federer said.
“It’s nice to have played a match so that my last match was not the Anderson match... you’ve kind of turned the page. It’s a good thing. The goal is now to recover from this match, take the positives with me. Of course the big goal is the US Open.”
The contest was the first for the Swiss since losing to Kevin Anderson in five sets in the Wimbledon quarterfinals on July 11.
Eighth seed Dominic Thiem was forced to withdraw without hitting a ball after suffering with a virus.
39 aces
Nick Kyrgios served 39 aces, including one to save match point, to power into the second round with a dramatic 6-7(2), 7-5, 7-6(9) win over Denis Kudla.
The Australian will next face Croatian Borna Coric, who beat Daniil Medvedev 6-2, 6-3.
Stefanos Tsitsipas tired late in a 7-5, 6-3 loss to Belgian 11th seed David Goffin while South Korea’s Chung Hyeon rallied past a struggling Jack Sock for a 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory.
In the women’s draw, the second set of the Kvitova-Serena contest was significant for the latter because it was her first set win this season against a top-10 opponent.
Out of gas
The 23-time Grand Slam champion won her first-round match over Daria Gavrilova 6-1, 6-2 on Monday, but appeared to run out of gas in the third set against Kvitova. Just two weeks ago, Serena suffered the worst defeat of her career in San Jose when she was crushed 6-1, 6-0 in 51 minutes by world No. 39 Johanna Konta.
Important results:
Men, second round: Leonardo Mayer bt Lucas Pouille 7-6(7), 6-4; Roger Federer bt Peter Gojowczyk 6-4, 6-4; Denis Shapovalov bt Kyle Edmund 6-4, 7-5.
First round: Milos Raonic bt Dusan Lajovic 6-3, 6-3; Robin Haase bt Filip Krajinovic 4-6, 6-2, 6-3; Marius Copil bt Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-4, 6-2; Nick Kyrgios bt Denis Kudla 6-7(2), 7-5, 7-6(11); Borna Coric bt Daniil Medvedev 6-2, 6-3; David Goffin bt Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-5, 6-3; Mischa Zverev bt Damir Dzumhur 6-3, 6-4.
Women, second round: Caroline Garcia bt Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 7-5; Petra Kvitova bt Serena Williams 6-3, 2-6, 6-3; Elina Svitolina bt Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-6(1), 4-6, 6-4.
First round: Ashleigh Barty bt Marketa Vondrousova 6-3, 7-5; Ekaterina Makarova bt Ana Bogdan 6-3, 6-2; Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova bt Aleksandra Krunic 6-1, 6-0; Karolina Pliskova bt Agnieszka Radwanska 6-3, 6-3; Elise Mertens bt Magdalena Rybarikova 6-4, 6-2.
