15th seed Anastasija Sevastova got off to a fast, 3-0 start against 2nd seed Simona Halep, but once Halep grounded herself, she was able to dominate and win in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3. Meanwhile, 8th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova defeated Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2, 6-4.
Halep's job gets harder now. She will next face the winner of today's third round contest featuring 7th seed Jo Konta and 11th seed Dominika Cibulkova. As for Kuznetsova, her next opponent will be the winner of the highly anticipated (and coming up soon) match between 4th seed Garbine Muguruza and 15th seed Madison Keys.
The late-night match tonight features Sloane Stephens and Ekaterina Makarova. Given what Makarova went through yesterday, it's a bit difficult to believe that she'll survive, but then, it was hard to believe she would survive yesterday's match, yet she managed to prevail. Playing her third round at night gives her a fighting chance, should the match go on for a long time. Also, despite everything, the Russian must have gotten quite a boost in confidence yesterday.
Also today, red hot Elina Svitolina plays red hot Julia Goerges in the first night match, and I think this could be a highly entertaining event.
Also today: Ash Barty gets a crack at Caroline Wozniacki, and hard-hitting Camila Giorgi, the last-stand Fighting Italian, plays top seed and defending champion Karolina Pliskova. If Giorgi is "on," she can make life miserable for the world number 1.
Alona Ostapenko, sadly, has completed her Cincinnati run. Upset in singles in the second round by Aleksandra Krunic, she and partner Gabriela Dabrowski were defeated yesterday in the second round of doubles by Lyudmyla Kichenok and Lesia Tsurenko.
And finally, in the "I'm going to tip you anyway" category: This morning, my Uber driver informed me that he used to follow tennis more but it was easier back then "because it was all Americans."
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