CINCINNATI, Aug 16: Novak Djokovic battled stomach issues to beat Adrian Mannarino and reach the third round in Cincinnati on Wednesday as women�s title holder Garbine Muguruza crashed out.
Wimbledon champion Djokovic called for the doctor during the second set against Mannarino but put aside his discomfort to progress 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 over the Frenchman before rain halted afternoon play.
�I wasn�t feeling well, I didn�t have a great night and wasn�t feeling that well for the first set and a half,� said Djokovic, who has won every Masters 1000 title except Cincinnati.
�I kind of made it through, and with the help of the doctor and God... I�m just, you know, happy that I managed to overcome the challenge. Credit to him playing well the first set, but I wasn�t myself.�
Seventh-seeded Muguruza played for the first time since crashing out in the second round of her Wimbledon title defence, falling 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 to Lesia Tsurenko.
�It was a very ugly match, but I�m happy that I fought, even if the level wasn�t very high,� said Muguruza, who got a late start to her hardcourt buildup to the US Open because of an arm injury.
�At the end, she managed to come back in the third set and play better and found a way to win the match.
�I�m happy I didn�t feel (arm) pain. Obviously I didn�t have a lot of practices to try to recover, so I had to manage a little bit.�
Marin Cilic, the 2016 men�s champion, beat Romanian Marius Copil 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 6-4, but third-seeded Alexander Zverev was upset 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 by Dutch veteran Robin Haase.
The German remains winless in four appearances at the pre-US Open tournament. His early exit comes a week after he lost in the Toronto quarterfinals to fellow youngster Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The 55th-ranked Haase clinched a surprise victory when Zverev fired a return long after losing serve six times.
�I think I played well. Today my returns I think were really, really good,� Haase said.
�The first serve he hit at me was 136 (mph), and I just hit it right back. I was good from my side. Nowadays against top 10, 20, maybe top 50 you have to be a little bit lucky.� Zverev came into the event leading the ATP with 43 match wins this season, while it was a seventh career win over a top 10 player for Haase.
Wimbledon finalist Kevin Anderson beat Jeremy Chardy 7-6 (8/6), 6-2 while Canadian Milos Raonic advanced over Malek Jaziri of Tunisia 6-3, 7-5.
Belgian 11th seed David Goffin eliminated France�s Benoit Paire 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.
US Open women�s champion Sloane Stephens was untroubled on her way into the third round, defeating German qualifier Tatjana Maria 6-3, 6-2.
The third-ranked American, who lost the Montreal final to world number one Simona Halep last weekend, reached the semifinals here a year ago before falling to the Romanian.
Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus continued her successful tournament debut, beating ninth seed Karolina Pliskova 2-6, 6-3, 7-5. Australian 16th seed Ashleigh Barty beat Estonian Kaia Kanepi 7-5, 6-3, while recent Gstaad champion Alize Cornet was crushed 6-2, 6-0 by Ekaterina Makarova. � AFP
