Dodig/Krajicek Cruise In Cincinnati Opener

Second seeds Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek made a fast start to their Western & Southern Open title campaign on Thursday when they downed Robin Haase and Karen Khachanov 6-1, 6-4.

Aiming for their fifth title of the year, Dodig and Krajicek saved eight of nine break points faced to reach the quarter-finals, where they will next meet Marcelo Melo and Alexander Zverev or Hubert Hurkacz and Mate Pavic.

The Croatian-American pair Dodig and Krajicek, who won their maiden major team title at Roland Garros, have a chance at rising to No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings this week if they win Cincinnati and Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski do not make it past the last eight.

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In other doubles action, Argentines Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni upset third seeds and defending champions Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury 7-6(4), 5-7, 10-7. Gonzalez and Molteni have won four tour-level titles this season: Cordoba, Rio de Janeiro, Barcelona and Washington, D.C.

Seventh seeds Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz ousted Felix Auger-Aliassime and Adrian Mannarino 6-1, 6-4 after winning 21 of 24 of their first-serve points. Hubert Hurkacz and Mate Pavic defeated Australian Open champions Rinky Hijikata and Jason Kubler 5-7, 6-4, 10-4.

Wild cards Lorenzo Musetti and Lorenzo Sonego rallied past eighth seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos 3-6, 7-5, 10-3. Max Purcell and Andrey Rublev, who were quarter-finalists last week in Toronto, overcame Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara 7-6(10), 7-5.