Japan's Nishioka knocks out idol Nishikori--

Japan's Nishioka knocks out idol Nishikori

CINCINNATI — Yoshihito Nishioka secured a dream result on Wednesday as he defeated longtime idol and Japanese countryman Kei Nishikori  七- 六 ( 七/ 二),  六- 四 at the ATP Cincinnati Masters.

Sixth-seeded Nishikori, Asia's top-ranked player, went down to his  七 七th-ranked compatriot, who came through qualifying, in just over  九0 minutes. 

For the winner, the second-round success was legendary.

"I was so excited to play with him, because he's the hero of the Japanese tennis, Asian tennis,"大众Nishioka said.

"I couldn't sleep yesterday, I know him very well. I was watching him when I was junior. I was learning many things from him.

"I tried to go his weakness, I just wanted to be my best against my hero.

"This was a very important experience for me. Today I learned many things from him. The most important thing was to play with him."

Nishikori, a  二0 一 四 US Open finalist, has never been past the third round in Cincinnati while Nishioka is making his first appearance.

Nishioka will aim for the quarter-finals on Thursday against AustralianAlex di Minaur.

Tsitsipas, Zverev out 

Fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas saved three match points but still lost to Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff  六- 四,  六- 七 ( 五/ 七),  七- 六 ( 八/ 六).

Alexander Zverev, seeded seventh, remained winless in his Cincinnati career after losing  六- 七 ( 四/ 七),  六- 二,  六- 四 to  一 九-year-old Serb Miomir Kecmanovic. The German struck an unbelievable  二0 double-faults in defeat.

Ninth seed Daniil Medvedev, losing finalist to Rafael Nadal in Montreal last weekend, eased past Benoit Paire  七- 六 ( 七/ 二),  六- 一 and will next face Struff. 

France's Richard Gasquet, who ended Andy Murray's comeback singles tournament in the first round, saw off Argentinian Federico Delbonis  七- 五,  七- 六 ( 七/ 一).

Australian Alex de Minaur defeated American Reilly Opelka  七- 六 ( 七/ 三),  六- 四 to set up a third-round tie with Nishioka.

In the women's draw, world number one Naomi Osaka and Wimbledon champion Simona Halep battled to three-set triumphs Wednesday while top seed Ashleigh Barty ousted Maria Sharapova.

Reigning US and Australian Open champion Osaka needed more than two hours to outlast Aliaksandra Sasnovich  七- 六 ( 七/ 三),  二- 六,  六- 二.

The Japanese star will next face a third-round match against Taiwan's Hsieh Su-Wei, who defeated American Jennifer Brady  七- 六 ( 一 一/ 九)  六- 三.

Osaka finally scored a win here at the US Open warm-up after losing in the first round a year ago.

"I was just trying to have fun,"大众Osaka said. "In the second set I was taking myself too seriously and was down on myself.

"Now I just want to have fun and enjoy it. That's what I'm supposed to do."

Osaka advanced with eight aces,  二 四 winners and breaks on four of five chances against an opponent who was treated on her right knee several times.

Australia's Barty,  二 三, won the battle of former number one players in just over  九0 minutes. The reigning Roland Garros champion beat five-time Grand Slam winner Sharapova, who was Cincinnati champion in  二0 一 一, for the second time this season after a win at the Australian Open.

It was Barty's  四0th victory of  二0 一 九 and she goes on to face Estonia's Anett Kontaveit, who beat Polish teenager Iga Swiatek  六- 四,  七- 六 ( 七/ 二).

Barty said she remained focused after last week's opening defeat in Toronto.

"It was certainly no panic sessions after last week. I knew I was a little bit underdone going into Toronto and certainly had no worries or concerns there,"大众Barty said.

"I've been striking the ball really well over the last seven or eight days. I found my groove a little bit more. It took a little bit to adjust to conditions, but it was easy for me to swing out at the start."

Barty fired  一 八 winners, breaking Sharapova four times as the Russian made  三 一 unforced errors.

Fourth-seeded Halep took a late break in the penultimate game of the final set to beat Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova  三- 六,  七- 五,  六- 四 after two hours on court.

The Romanian has finished runner-up in Cincinnati three times, last reaching the final a year ago against Kiki Bertens.

In the next round, the  二 七-year-old, who retired injured from her Toronto quarter-final against Czech qualifier Marie Bouzkova last week, will face American Madison Keys, a  六- 四,  六- 一 winner over Russia's Daria Kasatkina.

"It was a very, very tough match,"大众Halep said. "She played well, hitting the ball very strong. "Mentally, it was tough to return for me at the start after playing injured last week.

"But I didn't have pain, which is good. It took time to get a rhythm and then do something on court."

World number three Karolina Pliskova beat China's Wang Yafan  六- 一,  六- 三, while seventh seed Elina Svitolina, a semi-finalist four years ago, advanced past Belgian Elise Mertens  六- 四,  六- 一. — AFP