“But I’m very pleased with this first set. Entering the match, she had been on court for 7 hours, 22 minutes — far more than Halep, who had a bye in the opening round and won her next two matches in straight sets.Putintseva also reached the U.S. Open quarterfinals in her previous tournament, while Halep decided to skip the event in New York due to coronavirus travel concerns.Halep improved to 8-0 since the tennis restart and 12-0 overall stretching back to February.Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. “He’s someone I’ve looked up to since I was a junior. “Definitely one of the longest sets I’ve ever played. Novak Djokovic was being pushed so hard in the first set by Filip Krajinovic that he urgently needed somewhere to sit down and catch his breath. Toronto Star articles, please go to:The Toronto Star and thestar.com, each property of Toronto Star Market data provided by.Fox News Flash top headlines are here. "He inflicted damage to both Croatia and to us as a family in Serbia. Still, he was doubtful about getting back on tour at the Western & Southern Open, the first ATP tournament since tennis went on hiatus in March because of the pandemic.Dimitrov said he hopes his experience with the coronavirus can serve as a bit of a cautionary tale for those who might not take the illness seriously.“I just kind of wanted to show a message that it doesn’t matter, in a sense, ‘who you are,’ how fit you are and how healthy you eat and so on,” Dimitrov said.

Djokovic's father blamed the cancellation of the tour on Grigor Dimitrov, one of three other players to test positive in the past few days. Dimitrov tested positive for the coronavirus in June while participating in a series of exhibitions in Croatia and Serbia organized by Novak Djokovic, who also got COVID-19.

Open runner-up Victoria Azarenka advanced when Daria Kasatkina retired injured at 6-6 in the first set after she got her right foot caught on a line and fell. Novak Djokovic's father has defended his son and blamed another tennis player for spreading coronavirus at a series of exhibition matches hosted by the top-ranked player.Djokovic's outspoken father blamed the cancellation of the tour on Bulgarian star Grigor Dimitrov, one of the three other players to test positive in the last few days. Djokovic and Dimitrov were among the players to test positive for Covid-19, with Viktor Troicki and Borna Coric also contracting coronavirus amid lax social distancing regulations in … Azarenka next plays Garbine Muguruza, who beat last year's finalist, Johanna Konta, 6-4, 6-1.Also, defending champion Karolina Pliskova defeated Russian qualifier Anna Blinkova 6-4, 6-3 and will next play Elise Mertens, who eliminated Montenegrin qualifier Danka Kovinic 6-4, 6-4.The tournament has been played without fans so far because of the pandemic, although the Italian government said on Friday that up to 1,000 spectators will be allowed in to watch the semifinals and finals.“It comes as a bit of surprise midway through,” Dimitrov said. It could have gone a different way.”,With the temperature on Campo Centrale soaring to 32 degrees C (90 F), Djokovic said “we both struggled physically in that first set.”.The set was so close that the players won the same number of points — 61 — and Djokovic didn’t close it out until his fifth set point when Krajinovic’s forehand sailed long.Shadows moved across the court in the second set.“That allowed us to feel better,” Djokovic said. A slight stretch: Novak Djokovic won the battle against compatriot Filip Krajnovic. The No. All