Page 19 - ARUBA TODAY

A19
SPORTS Friday 16 august 2019
A ragged Federer ousted

in Cincinnati; Barty advances

By JOE KAY day. joined by a resurgent Ve-
AP Sports Writer Qualifier Yoshihito Nishioka nus Williams.
MASON, Ohio (AP) — For followed his upset of sixth- Barty beat Anett Kontaveit
Roger Federer, it was one seeded Kei Nishikori — a 4-6, 7-5, 7-5, raising her
big blur. The seven-time player he called his hero — fist in triumph after fight-
champion was ousted from by beating Alex De Minaur ing off one match point to
one of his favorite tourna- 7-5-6-4. It's the first time in take the 2-hour, 10-minute
ments in barely over an 10 years that two qualifiers match. She was down a
hour, falling in straight sets have reached the quar- break in the second set be-
to a 21-year-old qualifier terfinals of an ATP Masters fore rallying on a day when Roger Federer, of Switzerland, returns to Andrey Rublev, of Rus-
sa, during the quarterfinals of the Western & Southern Open ten-
he'd never faced. 1000 event. she struggled to find consis- nis tournament, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Mason, Ohio.
Andre Rublev — with only The day began with the ATP tency. Associated Press
one career win over a top- fining Nick Kyrgios $113,000 "The best thing is when my
five player to his credit — for expletive-filled outbursts back was against the wall, the final. ronto last week, her ranking
took advantages of Feder- that included smashing the tennis was there," Barty With the crowd cheering slipped to No. 65, her low-
er's numerous mistakes for rackets, insulting a chair said. "It may not have been for her, Williams recovered est in seven years. With sis-
a 6-3, 6-4 victory Thursday umpire and refusing to get there the whole match, from a rough first set and ter Serena cheering court-
that further depleted the ready to return serve during but we were able to find it beat Donna Vekic 2-6, 6-4, side, Venus reached the
top of the men's bracket a second-round match the when we needed it." 6-3, her best stretch of ten- semifinals.
in the Western & Southern previous night. Barty, the French Open nis in since she won three "I mean, I'm pretty
Open. In the women's bracket, champion and currently straight matches in March pumped," Venus Williams
It was over shockingly fast top-seeded Ashleigh Barty ranked No. 2, can move up at Miami. said. "When you're winning,
— Federer's quickest de- reached the quarterfinals, to the top spot by reaching After a first-round loss in To- it's fun."q
feat on the tour since 2003.
"To be honest, it's tough
when it's fast like this to
tell you, well, I could have
done this or that," he said.
Federer has won the tour-
nament more than anyone,
using it as a springboard to
the U.S. Open. He had 16
unforced errors against the
70th-ranked Rublev, who
raised both fists and wiped
a teary eye in celebration
after Federer's forehand
sailed long to end it.
Struggling with his serve, Fe-
derer got broken twice in
the first set.
"And there you have it. It
set the tone for the match
a little bit," Federer said. "He
was super clean — offense,
defense, serving well. He
didn't give me anything."
Federer, who lost a clas-
sic five-set match for the
Wimbledon title to Novak
Djokovic, thinks he's in good
shape heading into the U.S.
Open despite the upset in
Cincinnati.
"I played 45 matches this
year, so I think I should be
fine," he said, smiling.
But oh, this last one.
And oh, what a wide-open
tournament.
Second-seeded Rafael
Nadal withdrew before
the start of the tournament
because of fatigue after
winning the Rogers Cup
in Montreal on Sunday.
Djokovic was the only one
of the Top 3 left in Cincin-
nati, set to play later in the