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Reuters
Reuters
Sport

Dominant Del Potro into third round at rainy Cincinnati

Aug 16, 2018; Mason, OH, USA; Juan Martin del Potro (ARG) serves against Chung Hyeon (KOR) in the Western and Southern tennis open at Lindner Family Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

(Reuters) - Juan Martin del Potro quickly dispatched South Korean Chung Hyeon 6-2 6-3 on Thursday in a Cincinnati Open second-round match carried over from the previous day because of inclement weather.

Bad weather continued to play havoc with the evening schedule as second seed Roger Federer's match against Leonardo Mayer and Kevin Anderson's match against David Goffin failed to get underway.

Several of Thursday afternoon's matches were suspended in progress, with Novak Djokovic leading fifth seed GrigorDimitrov 2-6 6-3 2-1 and Marin Cilic tied with Karen Khachanov at 7-6(5) 3-6 1-1.

Aug 16, 2018; Mason, OH, USA; Juan Martin del Potro (ARG) returns a shot against Chung Hyeon (KOR) in the Western and Southern tennis open at Lindner Family Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

Wild-card entrant Stan Wawrinka was up 2-1 in the first set against Marton Fucsovics.

In third round action, big-serving Milos Raonic beat fellow Canadian Denis Shapovalov 7-6(6) 6-4 while Spanish 13th seed Pablo Carreno Busta topped Dutchman Robin Haase 6-4 6-2.

"I think I got myself into more points on his serve than he did on mine,” said Raonic.

Aug 16, 2018; Mason, OH, USA; Chung Hyeon (KOR) returns a shot against Juan Martín del Potro (ARG) in the Western and Southern tennis open at Lindner Family Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

"It was the thing I struggled with most last time we played, so I definitely made sure to focus on that and sort of try to change that a little bit."

Del Potro and Chung were delayed from taking the court because of rain and then had to endure another weather-related suspension just six minutes into their match.

Del Potro was not rattled by the delays, however, and did well to attack Chung's forehand throughout the 81-minute encounter that determined the final entry into the last 16.

Aug 16, 2018; Mason, OH, USA; Juan Martin del Potro (ARG) returns a shot against Chung Hyeon (KOR) in the Western and Southern tennis open at Lindner Family Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

"I am happy to beat these young players," del Potro said. “He has a big future, and he is a nice player. I am glad to go through."

This marks Del Potro's fourth consecutive last-16 appearance in Cincinnati, where the Argentine appears to be in fine form right in time for the Aug. 27-Sept. 9 U.S. Open.

Aug 16, 2018; Mason, OH, USA; Chung Hyeon (KOR) serves during warmups against Juan Mart’n del Potro (ARG) in the Western and Southern tennis open at Lindner Family Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto, editing by Pritha Sarkar/Peter Rutherford)

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