The big guns have finally taken the court at the Coupe Rogers. After a first-round bye, the top seeds in the tournament — Rafael Nadal, Dominic Thiem, Alexander Zverev, etc. — were in action for the first time during the second round.
But while Nadal and Thiem made their way through to the third round, there were a number of other seeded stars who were upset early — including a couple of top-five seeds.
Meanwhile, a Canadian teenager is still alive in his hometown tournament after his compatriot had to withdraw due to injury.
As usual, SBOBET has rounded up all the top news that you should know about the men’s singles draw of the Coupe Rogers.
Rafael Nadal, Dominic Thiem reach the third round
Rafa Nadal’s quest for a fifth Coupe Rogers title is very much alive after the World No. 2 beat Britain’s Daniel Evans 7-6(6), 6-4 in his opening match.
Nadal stormed back from a three-point deficit in the first-set tiebreak, which was pretty much the end for Evans. The Brit broke Nadal’s serve to put it at 3-3 in the second set, but the Spaniard came up with a crucial break of his own to seal the straight-sets win.
“Daniel is a player that combines an aggressive game with good hands. He’s able to read the game very well, so he knows how to play tennis in terms of tactics,” Nadal said.
“It was a tough first set. Then in the second, I was able to take advantage at the beginning, but then he broke me back. It was so important, that [next] game again to have the break.”
Nadal, who was in action for the first time since losing to Roger Federer in the Wimbledon semi-finals, tied one of Federer’s records with his 378th Masters 1000 win. He will face Guido Pella in the third round.
Meanwhile, No. 2 seed Dominic Thiem had a more difficult time in his second-round matchup as Canadian Denis Shapovalov pushed the Austrian to three sets.
However, the World No. 4 proved too much for the 20-year-old, who has now lost six of his last seven matches.
“Every win is special in these tournaments because it’s only against great opponents,” Thiem said. “Against Denis, it was special because he’s a local hero. All the crowd was supporting him, so it was tough.”
Thiem, who has won one hard-court title this season at Indian Wells, will have another tough matchup in the third round as he faces 14th-seed Marin Cilic.
Stefanos Tsitsipas, Kei Nishikori ousted
The fourth and fifth seeds — Stefanos Tsitsipas and Kei Nishikori — weren’t as fortunate as Thiem, though. The two lost their respective three-set battles: Tsitsipas to 22-year-old alternate Hubert Hurkacz and Nishikori to 33-year-old veteran Richard Gasquet.
They weren’t the only big names to fall, either. American John Isner, Borna Coric, and former World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka were also knocked out despite being favoured by the Coupe Rogers 2019 odds.
After stunning the 2018 finalist Tsitsipas, Hurkacz has now claimed four victories over Top 10-ranked opposition in 2019.
“It’s a huge win. Stefanos is an amazing player… I’m so happy that I won,” Hurkacz said. “I think I served really well today, that helped me a lot.”
Hurkacz will move on to face French veteran Gael Monfils in the third round. And if he wins, he could face another Frenchman in Gasquet, who must get past 10th-seed Roberto Bautista Agut.
Canadian teen through after Milos Raonic retires
One other big-name player did not make it through to the third round: Milos Raonic. The top-ranked Canadian and former World No. 3 was forced to retire due to a back injury.
As a result, fellow Canadian — 18-year-old Montreal native Felix Auger-Aliassime — will have a chance to make more Coupe Rogers 2019 highlights.
“I was pretty shook … didn’t really know how to react,” Auger-Aliassime said. “A few seconds later it sunk in.”
Raonic also withdrew from a match against Auger-Aliassime last June and has continued to be plagued with injury. He has played in just 11 events and has yet to finish a tournament healthy in 2019 due to persistent back and knee problems.
“(The) last 30 minutes of that match, just because of the situation we’re playing in, being primetime night match here in Montreal, was probably the least enjoyable 30 minutes I’ve spent on a tennis court,” said a dejected Raonic.
“I just keep trying to pinpoint, figure out what the right step is,” said Raonic. “I keep getting assured there’s nothing extensively serious about the back.
While Raonic attempts to get fully healthy, Auger-Aliassime will take on No. 6 seed Karen Khachanov in the third round. The Russian knocked out former World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka in three sets in the second round.
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