Washington (AFP) – Top seed Taylor Fritz romped into the last 16 at the ATP/WTA DC Open on Wednesday as Russian eighth seed Daniil Medvedev overcame an early scare to advance to the third round.
World number four Fritz, playing his first match since losing to Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals at Wimbledon earlier this month, cruised past Australia’s Aleksandar Vukic 6-3, 6-2 in 59 minutes. The American dominated Vukic with a powerful service game while producing a slew of superb backhands in a stream of 28 winners to ease into a last 16 clash against Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi.
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“I felt like I played pretty well all around, but the shot that stood out was the backhand line,” Fritz told The Tennis Channel after his win. “I don’t usually like that shot but it just felt like every single one I tried today was going in.” Fritz was always in control of his game against the current world 105 Vukic, breaking to open up an early 3-0 lead before closing out the first set. A similarly dominant start saw him take a 4-0 lead early in the second before he wrapped up a comfortable win.
Earlier, Russia’s Medvedev was made to grind through a roller-coaster tussle with big-serving US player Reilly Opelka before coming through 3-6, 7-5, 6-1. After battling to square the match in the second set, Medvedev took advantage of Opelka’s shaky serve in the decider to move on. “I didn’t return well until 6-5 in the second but I always tried to look for solutions,” Medvedev said. “Maybe he got a bit tired with the heat and everything. Happy with the way I played better and better during the match and looking forward.” Medvedev will face China’s Wu Yibing in the last 16 on Thursday.
Wu upset 10th seed Alexei Popyrin 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 to reach the last 16. Russian fifth seed Andrey Rublev meanwhile tumbled out to Learner Tien of the United States, losing 7-5, 6-2.
In the women’s draw, second seed Emma Navarro bowed out to Greece’s Maria Sakkari, losing 7-5, 7-6 (7/1). Third seed Elena Rybakina booked her place in the quarter-finals meanwhile with a comfortable 6-3, 7-5 defeat of Canada’s Victoria Mboko.
In the women’s doubles meanwhile, the 45-year-old Venus Williams and partner Hailey Baptiste pushed second-seeded duo Taylor Townsend and Zhang Shuai all the way before losing 6-4, 3-6, 10-6. Williams, who became the oldest winner of a WTA match since 2004 with her win over Peyton Stearns on Tuesday, will aim to extend her run in the women’s singles on Thursday, when she takes on Polish fifth seed Magdalena Frech in the last 16.
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