MASON, Ohio — Serena Williams pumped her fist after each important point and screamed as she smacked another emphatic shot. The defending Cincinnati champion wasn't going to ease into the tournament. Williams put a lot of emotion into her opening match at the Western & Southern Open Wednesday, a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Tsvetana Pironkova that made her the first of the top seeds to advance. Novak Djokovic won his rain-delayed opening match, beating Benoit Paire 7-5, 6-2. Third-seeded Andy Murray and eight-seeded Rafael Nadal also advanced in rain-delayed matches that ended after midnight. Stan Wawrinka had to dig deep to beat Borna Coric and conceded his thoughts had been far from tennis over the past few days. French Open champion Wawrinka said he had yet to receive an apology from Nick Kyrgios for the Australian's incendiary comment during their match last week. “For the past few days for sure my head was not really into the tennis,” Wawrinka told Sky Sports television after his 3-6 7-6(3) 6-3 win over Croatian teen Coric. Williams won the Cincinnati tournament for the first time last year, getting one of the few titles that had eluded her. This year, she's using it as a final tuneup for the US Open, where she'll be the focus as she tries to complete a rare Grand Slam sweep. For her, this week is about getting her game ready to take a swing at history. The top-ranked Williams was coming off a loss to Belinda Bencic on Saturday night in Toronto in the Rogers Cup semifinals. Williams' sister, Venus, dropped out of the tournament Tuesday night with an illness. Maria Sharapova also dropped out with a lingering injury to her right leg. Third-seeded Simona Halep advanced, but fifth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki lost to Victoria Azarenka 6-0, 6-4. Azarenka, making a comeback from ankle and knee injuries last year, won 16 of the first 21 points to take control. On the men's side, Djokovic waited out a long rain delay before his match started, and then wasted chances to close it out quickly. He converted only 5 of 15 break points. The first set lasted 64 minutes, with Paire using drop shots to keep Djokovic guessing. Djokovic has never won in Cincinnati, losing the finals to Andy Murray in 2008 and 2011, and to Roger Federer in 2009 and 2012. A title this week would make him the first player to win all nine ATP Masters events. Murray, who beat Djokovic to win in Montreal Sunday, beat Mardy Fish 6-4, 7-6 (1) in a match featuring a flurry of service breaks. There were four late in the second set, with Murray breaking Fish to tie it 6-6. They traded points in the tiebreaker before Murray ran off six in a row to close it out. Nadal knocked off Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-4 in a match that ended at 12:43 a.m. Chardy fought off four match points before Nadal finished it off. He'll play Feliciano Lopez Thursday. Meanwhile Kokkinakis lost, going down to 12th seed Richard Gasquet 7-6 (7/5), 6-2, a day after the Frenchman eliminated Kyrgios. Belgian David Goffin, seeded 13th, beat Fernando Verdasco 6-4, 7-6 (7/4); the 15th-seeded South African Kevin Anderson defeated Jack Sock 6-3, 7-6 (9/7).— AP
