PETE ZIEBRON in CINCINNATI
Alexandr Dolgopolov advances successfully through qualifying in Cincinnati. Pete Ziebron Images
Good fortune was smiling on Alexandr Dolgopolov yesterday at the Western & Southern Open as he not only qualified for the main draw but also advanced to the second round due to the withdrawal of Kei Nishikori.
On the first match on Court 9, Dolgopolov engineered a 63 36 64 victory over Santiago Giraldo. The Ukrainian and #9 seed in the Cincinnati qualifying draw constantly kept Giraldo off balance throughout much of the first two sets. Dolgopolov hit nearly a dozen drop shot winners in the opening 18 games of the match.
Santiago Giraldo with one of his many verbal barrages toward his coach in the first two sets of the match. Pete Ziebron Images
Giraldo, the #6 seed in qualifying was not particularly happy with how he was serving and was quite vocal in Spanish, screaming to his coach who was sitting directly in front of me. In the third game of the 2nd set, Giraldo broke Dolgopolov on the 16th point of the game and broke him yet again in the final game of the set to square the match at a set apiece.
Late in the second set, Giraldo was able to be more effective with his serve but that quickly dissipated in the final set as Dolgopolov broke him at 15. Giraldo would break in the 6th game of the set to level the match at one set all and 3-3 in the 3rd. However, Giraldo's serving woes continued and he was broken at love. Dolgopolov eventually sealed the win with 2 aces in the final game, including hitting his 8th ace on match point.
Dolgopolov, who defeated James Ward, an Alternate in the qualifying draw, 64 64 in the opening round of qualifying, found out later in the day that he would be given Kei Nishikori's place in the main draw due to the withdrawal of the Japanese. Since Nishikori was the #4 seed in the draw, he received a BYE into the second round.
Nishikori issued a statement regarding his withdrawal:
"I kind of got hurt last week in Montreal in my match against Andy (Murray). I played five matches inWashington and four matches in Montreal, and I was a little bit tired in my body. My hip was bothering me, so I couldn't really play and could barely finish the match. It's unfortunate to pull out here but I had two good tournament, so I'm very happy with my tennis."
Dolgopolov will await the winner of today's first round match between Bernard Tomic and Sergiy Stakhovsky.
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