Coupe Rogers 2019
The hard court once again takes centre stage as the tennis world prepares for the fourth and final Grand Slam of the season — the U.S. Open — later this month.
But before heading to Flushing Meadows, a number of the top-ranked men’s tennis players will converge in Montreal for the Coupe Rogers.
Unfortunately, both World No. 1 Novak Djokovic and No. 3 Roger Federer will not be taking part in this year’s event after they squared off in the final of Wimbledon. That has left the door wide open for Rafael Nadal to claim yet another title in Canada.
The Spaniard’s quest is just one of the top trending stories SBOBET will focus on ahead of the tournament, along with what could potentially be the best match in the entire first round, as well as the prospects of a certain Nick Kyrgios.
Rafael Nadal chasing fifth Canada title
With both Djokovic and Federer withdrawing from this year’s tournament, Nadal’s path to another Coupe Rogers victory just got that much easier.
The three highest seeded players behind Nadal are now Dominic Thiem, Alexander Zverev, and Stefanos Tsitsipas, whom the Spaniard defeated in last year’s final. While all three are promising young up-and-comers, none pose quite as big a threat to Nadal as Djokovic or Federer.
Nadal has claimed the Canadian Masters title a total of four times in his career. Although, the Spaniard has been unable to successfully defend his crown.
But this could be the year. Nadal is having another successful season thus far. He’s claimed two titles, both on clay (the French Open and the Rome Masters), was a losing finalist at the Australian Open, and most recently lost to Federer in the semis at Wimbledon.
The World No. 2 has a first-round bye and will face either 20-year-old Australian Alex De Minaur or a qualifier in the second round. Nadal has defeated De Minaur by identical 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 scorelines in each of their two previous meetings, which came at 2018 Wimbledon and this year’s Australian Open.
The Coupe Rogers 2019 odds will most definitely have Nadal heavily favoured against the young Aussie if they do face off once again.
Battle of former No. 3s in first round
Arguably the most intriguing first-round matchup is the one between Stanislas Wawrinka and Grigor Dimitrov. Neither is particularly high up the ATP rankings right now, but both are former World No. 3s who possess a lot of talent.
Although, the two are well short of form heading into the tournament. Wawrinka crashed out in the second round of both his recent tournaments. Meanwhile, Dimitrov has lost four of his last five matches (two on grass, two on hard court).
The two have met nine times in total, with eight coming at either a Grand Slam or a Masters 1000 tournament. Wawrinka has won the last three meetings — including their most recent matchup at the French Open — in order to take control of the overall series lead, 5-4.
The winner of this match will go on to face No. 6 seed Karen Khachanov in the second round. And while neither of the two has had a particularly impressive season thus far, they are more than capable of making a run in this year’s tournament.
Nick Kyrgios on a roll
Nick Kyrgios may only be ranked No. 52 in the world at the moment, but the Aussie remains a dangerous opponent for even the very best players.
Just look at what Kyrgios has done at the Citi Open. He’s made it all the way to the final after defeating World No. 6 Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semi-finals.
Kyrgios is now 4-1 against Top 10 players this season, with his only loss coming in his crazy encounter against Nadal at Wimbledon. Although, he also owns a win against the Spaniard in Acapulco, where he won his first title of the season.
Kyrgios will face Daniil Medvedev in the final in D.C. And as luck would have it, the two could also meet up in the second round of the Coupe Rogers if Kyrgios can get past Britain’s Kyle Edmund.
The two have faced off just once to date, with Kyrgios coming out on to in last year’s Fever-Tree Championships.
But even if Kyrgios doesn’t deliver the same type of impressive tennis for two tournaments in a row, he is still worth watching for the Coupe Rogers 2019 highlights he is capable of producing whichever match he plays.
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