Halep, Svitolina score catch-up wins in Cincy

Cincinnati - Simona Halep and Elina Svitolina advanced efficiently after a day of rain interruptions, both seeds reaching the quarter-finals of the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Masters in straight sets

Top seed Halep came from a break down in each set to overhaul Australian 16th seed Ashleigh Barty 7-5, 6-4.

Ukrainian Svitolina, seeded fifth, beat 16-year-old American prodigy Amanda Anisimova 6-4, 6-4.

Men were also working to conclude third-round matches, with Belgian 11th seed David Goffin upsetting Wimbledon finalist and sixth seed Kevin Anderson 6-2, 6-4.

Anderson exited with just nine aces, dropping his serve three times.

Halep set up a quarter-final clash with Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko with her second win in six days over Barty. She beat the Australian in the semi-finals in Montreal an her way to the title there.

"It was a tricky match, she was a tough opponent," Halep said. "It was difficult to find rhythm today. "We were both in trouble during the match. I'm happy to go through and tonight I have another match."

Results from the ATP and WTA Cincinnati Masters tournament on Friday (x denotes seeding):

Men

3rd rd

David Goffin (BEL x11) bt Kevin Anderson (RSA x6) 6-2, 6-4

Women

3rd rd

Simona Halep (ROM x1) bt Ashleigh Barty (AUS x16) 7-5, 6-4

Elina Svitolina (UKR x5) bt Amanda Anisimova (USA) 6-4, 6-4