MASON, Ohio — Top-ranked Simona Halep won the first of two scheduled matches Friday at the Western & Southern Open, edging 16th-seeded Ashleigh Barty 7-5, 6-4.
Halep will face unseeded Lesia Tsurenko in a quarterfinal match after rain delayed matches on Thursday.
Barty, who lost to Halep in last week’s Rogers Cup semifinals in Montreal, committed 32 unforced errors to Halep’s 17. Halep is seeking her first Cincinnati championship after losing in the finals last year and 2015.
Elina Svitolina ousted wild-card Amanda Anisimova 6-4, 6-4. She’ll play unseeded Kiki Bertens, who defeated Annett Knotaveit 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.
In the men’s draw, Novak Djokovic knocked off defending-champion Grigor Dimitrov 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in another match started on Thursday. He’ll face Milos Raonic later Friday.
Juan Martin del Potro and Nick Kyrgios split two tiebreaks before Del Potro prevailed in the third set for a 7-6 (4), 6-7 (6), 6-2 win.
Del Potro will face David Goffin, who upset Kevin Anderson 6-2, 6-4 to reach the Cincinnati quarterfinals for the first time in three tries.