Simona Halep won her first match back after coming back from a calf injury. She defeated Magda Linette 6-4 3-6 6-1 on Tuesday at the Cincinnati Masters. Halep, who suffered a calf injury last May, returned to the game at Toronto but lost in the opening round. She was confident that progress is near for her, after three months of inactivity.
The Romanian tennis player defeated the Pole for a second time and it took just over two hours to win. She dominated the game with 11 aces and 4 serves broken.
The 12th seed player said, in her post-match interview, that it was a strong match and both played really well and it was probably the rain delay that helped her a bit to find the energy to make her feel mentally and physically stronger and due to that she was able to dominate the last set. She was very happy to win, as achieving a victory when someone is back from injury is very special. She stated that because she never had this problem earlier, she could not manage it but now she’s getting her confidence back and is happy to play pain-free.
In other tennis results in this tournament, American teenager Coco Gauff beat Hseih Su Wei 6-1 6-2 to set up a match with second seed, Naomi Osaka. This will be her third match with Osaka. Gauff won her previous match against Osaka in last year’s Australian Open. The series between them is now 1-1. She stated in her post-match interview that she is keeping the focus on herself and not on other’s expectations.
Briton Johanna Konta lost to Czech Karolina Muchova 3-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 in the first round. This was her third loss in the first round of Cincinnati. Montreal winner, Camila Giorgi won 6-2 6-2 against Jessica Pegula, which was a repeat of the semi-final in Canada.
On the men’s side, Matteo Berrettini, returned from a thigh injury, to narrowly beat Spaniard Albert Ramos Vinolas 6-7 (5-7) 6-3, 7-5. Gael Monfils defeated Dusan Lajovic comfortably, 7-6(7/0), 6-2. Grigor Dimitrov won his match against Roberto Bautista Agut 6-3 6-4. American Sebastian Korda defeated Laslo Djere 6-4 6-4 to set up a match against the second seed, Stefanos Tsitsipas. Toronto semifinalist, John Isner defeated British, Cameron Norrie 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 to set up a match against Italian, Jannick Sinner. He hit 26 aces in this comeback win.
