It was a mixed day for Switzerland in this otherwise hospitable corner of Ohio. Stan Wawrinka only just survived the power of Ivo Karlovic over two hours and 37 minutes and Belinda Bencic lasted barely half an hour before she was forced to retire with a sore right arm that may keep her out of the US Open.
Wawrinka, the French Open champion who has had his mind on so many off-court things this summer, met Karlovic at just the wrong time in the third round of the Cincinnati Masters, one of the Croatian’s favourite tournaments, with his fabled serve singing like a whistling sabre.
The big man who has served more than 10,000 career aces hit another 35 on Thursday, replicating his first-round torture of Gilles Simon and equalling his own tournament record, but Wawrinka hung on to win 7-6, 6-7, 7-6. With sweet irony, the final shot of the match was Karlovic’s seventh double fault.
Bencic’s dream run, which began in Toronto last week with a career-enhancing win over Serena Williams and was validated in victory in the final to deliver her a first Premier level title, ended in tears and nagging muscle pain in her right arm after 33 minutes against Lucie Safarova.
While the 18-year-old Swiss made all the right noises afterwards, she would not commit to playing in New Haven next week. Her presence at Flushing Meadows, where she made such an impact last year, must be in the balance. “I don’t think it’s very serious,” Bencic said after quitting at the start of the second set. “It was the first time I retired a match, so it didn’t feel very good. I just hope it will get better, and I’m sure I will be fit very soon.”
Having won just two games against an opponent 10 years older than her, Bencic hurried from the heat and wind of battle dabbing her eyes with her towel, fleetingly consoled by the sympathy of the crowd, who rose to acclaim her.
“I just wasn’t 100% today,” she said. “To beat Lucie or even compete against her, you need to be 100%.”
Bencic, ranked eight in the world after beating five top five opponents this year and reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon last month, will be missed if she cannot play in New York.
So much has been expected of her in the run-up to the final slam of the season. Last year at Flushing Meadows she became the youngest player to reach the quarter-finals since her compatriot Martina Hingis in 1997, beating the seventh seed Angelique Kerber and Jelena Jankovic (10), then losing to the unseeded Peng Shuai.
Of the young players emerging slowly on the women’s Tour, Bencic has been the one with the most eye-catching form and performances lately but she could not get going against the sixth-ranked Safarova.
In a sport obsessed with “churn” and the next starlet, Bencic is fast fitting the bill, playing energetic, clever tennis with robust intent, an intelligent scrapper who outsmarted the game’s acknowledged smarty-pants, Agnieszka Radwanska, in the Eastbourne final.
Safarova, meanwhile, is in excellent spirits. The Czech broke into the top 10 when she reached her first slam final this year, losing to Williams in three sets at Roland Garros. This week, she had a first-round bye then had to fight hard to beat the American wildcard Coco Vandeweghe 6-4, 7-5.
While youth was suffering on the main stage, an old warhorse was attempting to shred another Swiss reputation on the Grandstand Court next door.
Karlovic, all 6ft 10in of him (although his height is as movable a commodity as the top of the Empire State Building), fought hard from start to finish.
Come the new rankings on Monday, he will be the oldest player in the top 20 since Jimmy Connors 25 years ago. In heat just short of killing, he still had spring in those crane-like, 36-year-old legs to win the first set tie-break for the loss of only two points.
Wawrinka, who also lost the first set before beating Borna Coric the day before, again drew on his experience to work his way back into the contest, which he would interpret as a timely workout before the US Open or an inconvenience he could have done without.
He complained of fatigue this week and some of that has been mental after the saga with Nick Kyrgios that began in Montreal and which Wawrinka is desperate to put behind him.
Closure against Karlovic was not so straightforward. The Croatian was playing with the sort of confidence that took him all the way to the semi-finals here against Andy Murray in 2008, and saved two set points in the second-set shootout, before shoving a backhand long.
In the deciding frame, they hit like the heavyweights they are, Karlovic’s admirable right arm just too weary at the very end.
