Juan Martin Del Potro pulled away from Nick Kyrgios in the third set, while David Goffin dispatched Kevin Anderson in surprisingly easy fashion in Cincinnati.
Goffin spent just 78 minutes on court in his 6-2, 6-4 win over the current Wimbledon and US Open runner-up, while Del Potro took advantage of an erratic Kyrgios in the late stages to win 7-6, 6-7, 6-2.
There were no breaks of serve in the first two sets between the two power players, and only two break points to that stage. Kyrgios mashed 29 aces to Del Potro’s 19 and won more second serve points, but saw his level drop precipitously after leveling the match.
A tweener too many put Kyrgios behind in his opening service game, and an unlucky net cord handed Del Potro a small edge on the scoreboard and a gigantic one mentally. Kyrgios sleepwalked through his subsequent return games, winning just one point in the next two before surrendering another break with a poor flat-footed forehand.
Del Potro notched an easy service winner on match point, closing out a two hour, 19 minute affair in which he faced just one break point.
Though the result mirrored the first set, the play did not. After each player failed to convert late-set break points, the world No. 3 capitalized on an untimely Kyrgios error at 4-4 in the tiebreak. An ace and well-struck, run around forehand from close range later, Del Potro had the first set in his pocket.
Each player was even more impenetrable in the second set, but Kyrgrios had the edge in the tiebreak. He wasted a sublime drop shot by double faulting on set point — with a 136 miles per hour second serve — but doubled down, earned another set point and converted it with an ace. An off-court break allowed Del Potro to refocus, however, and he cruised home.
Del Potro will face a far different opponent in Goffin in the quarterfinal, after the Belgian outfoxed Anderson, breaking serve three times and appearing unfazed by the South African’s supreme power. Goffin won an impressive 44 percent of points on Anderson’s serve and forced five break points.
Anderson did little to help himself, putting fewer than half of first serves in play and tallying a relatively disappointing nine aces. The victory marked a solid turnaround for the No. 11 seed after a first round loss in Toronto last week, while Anderson could not back up his Canada semifinal.
