Cincinnati Masters review: Roger Federer to face Stan Wawrinka in quarter-final
A round-up of Friday's action, as Roger Federer books a meeting with Stan Wawrinka and Novak Djokovic got past Grigor Dimitrov.
Roger Federer set up an intriguing all-Swiss quarter-final encounter against Stan Wawrinka with a dominant victory over Leonardo Mayer at the Cincinnati Masters.
The world No 2 was the headline act of a busy schedule as the rain-hit Masters 1000 tournament was left with a backlog of last-16 matches to complete due to Thursday's early suspension to play.
Federer, a seven-time Cincinnati champion, defeated Mayer 6-1 7-6 (8-6) in 72 minutes to complete the first part of a likely double-header.
The 37-year-old breezed through a one-sided first set in 23 minutes, winning five games on the bounce against the world No 50.
Mayer offered greater resistance in the second set forcing Federer into a tie-break and, despite surrendering a 5-1 advantage, the Swiss player avoided a deciding set by closing out the match with his 10th ace.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion, preparing to bid for a sixth US Open title and first at Flushing Meadows in a decade, will next meet Wawrinka after his compatriot completed his held-over encounter against Marton Fucsovics in straight-sets.
Wawrinka, returning to form and confidence, was involved in a three-set thriller with his Hungarian opponent in Toronto last week but this time enjoyed a rather more routine 6-4 6-3 victory.
Novak Djokovic, chasing the Cincinnati title to complete the Masters 1000 collection, concluded his weather-affected encounter with defending champion Grigor Dimitrov, winning 2-6 6-3 6-4 to book a meeting with Milos Raonic.
The opening match of the day saw Juan Martin del Potro defeat Nick Kyrgios 7-6 (7-4) 6-7 (6-8) 6-2.
After the first two sets were decided in tight fashion, with neither player being broken, Kyrgios appeared to lose focus after Del Potro took a nine-minute bathroom break prior to the deciding set.
Del Potro will next meet Belgium's David Goffin in the last-eight after he secured an impressive 6-2 6-4 victory over Wimbledon finalist Kevin Anderson.
Marin Cilic also returned to book safe passage to the quarter-finals, where he will meet Pablo Carreno Busta, as he defeated Karen Khachanov 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 6-4.
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