Pospisil dumps top seed Berdych, Raonic wins

WASHINGTON: Czech top seed Tomas Berdych was ousted from the ATP and WTA Washington Open on Thursday, falling 6-2, 6-4 to Canada's Vasek Pospisil (pix) in a third-round match.
Pospisil, who at 36th in the rankings was 31 spots beneath Berdych, collected his third career victory over a top-10 foe, his first coming over Berdych 51 weeks ago in the round of 16 at Canada.
"That was not one of my best," Berdych said.
"It's something that needs to be dealt with and go on. I need to move on and work even harder."
In the quarter-finals for the second week in a row, Pospisil will face Santiago Giraldo, who beat Victor Estrella Burgos 6-2, 6-0.
"He's a guy who likes to play big matches," Berdych said of Pospisil, who will be seeking his second semi-final of the season after Chennai.
Wimbledon semi-finalist Milos Raonic reached the quarter-finals with a 7-6 (7/1), 7-6 (7/3) victory over Australian Lleyton Hewitt.
The second-seeded Canadian fired 27 aces and denied all four of the two-time Grand Slam champion's break chances at the $1.9 million (1.4m euro) hardcourt warm-up event for the US Open.
"I did a lot of good things, especially the way I fought through the important games," Raonic said. "In those key moments, my attitude got me through."
Raonic, who also won his opener over American Jack Sock in two tie-breakers, will face US giant-killer Steve Johnson for a spot in the last four.
Johnson dumped ATP aces leader Ivo Karlovic 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (9/7) despite 27 aces by the Croatian ninth seed a day after beating US fifth seed John Isner, who ranks second in aces and fired 29 past Johnson.
"He couldn't have had any better preparation to face me," said Raonic, who ranks third in ATP aces. "It's going to be very difficult.
"Compared to the previous two he got, I think I control the center of the court and move a little better. Hopefully that will get me through."
In each win, Johnson benefitted from a double fault by his rival on the penultimate point to win a third-set tie-breaker.
"I can learn a lot from a match like this and take it into the next match," said Johnson, who could face South African seventh seed Kevin Anderson, sixth on the season aces list, in the semi-finals.
Anderson downed Tunisia's Malek Jaziri 6-3, 6-4 to reach a quarter-final match with American left-hander Donald Young, who outlasted Uzbek Denis Istomin 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
Young, ranked 73rd, has won three ATP main draw matches in a row for the first time since a run to his only ATP final in 2011 at Bangkok, where he lost to Britain's Andy Murray.
"I'm excited about it," Young said. "I had to fight some nerves. I'm happy to get through. It's a big win for me."

Winning return for Gasquet
French sixth seed Richard Gasquet, coming off a right arm injury that saw him withdraw last week at Atlanta, beat American Tim Smyczek 6-3, 6-2.
"I couldn't even serve a ball," Gasquet said. "For three days I didn't serve. Now I'm very sound. I feel no pain. It feels fine."
Russians Ekaterina Makarova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the top seeds remaining in the women's draw, booked a quarter-final meeting with straight-set triumphs.
Second seed Makarova beat American Lauren Davis 6-2, 6-4 and fifth-seeded Pavlyuchenkova defeated Japanese qualifier Hiroko Kuwata 6-3, 6-3.
Russian sixth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2004 US Open and 2009 French Open champion, ousted Belgium's Kirsten Flipkens 6-4, 7-5 to book a last-eight date with Vania King, a 6-1, 6-3 winner over fellow American Christina McHale. – AFP