There have been some superb matches so far this week at the Rogers Cup in Toronto, and day 4 promises to bring more of the same, as third round action begins.
Third seed Stanislas Wawrinka kicks things off on Centre Court as he faces Kevin Anderson of South Africa. Wawrinka had a difficult first match against Benoit Paire, winning 4-6 6-3 7-6(2). Paire was striking his backhand extremely well and causing all sorts of problems for the world no. 4. The Frenchman held a match point when Wawrinka served at 4-5 in the third set, but a big serve down the ‘T' got him out of jail, as he went on to win the match. Anderson also found himself a set down in his opener against Thanasi Kokkinakis. The teenager from Australia claimed the first set 6-4, before the more experienced Anderson got the momentum back, winning the last two sets 6-2 6-3. He then came up against the charismatic Fabio Fognini in the second round. After a tight first set went the way of Anderson, 7-5, the Italian couldn’t stay in the match mentally, with a 6-2 second set signalling a straight sets victory for the big man. Anderson and Wawrinka have met this year already, on the hard courts of Indian Wells, with the former upsetting the latter, 7-6(1) 4-6 6-1. Before that meeting, Wawrinka had won all three of their matchups, all on hard courts, however they were all competitive. This is by no means going to be easy for Wawrinka, with Anderson on his favourite surface. If the serve gets going, an upset could well and truly be on the cards. Either way, a high quality match is to be expected for the Canadian fans.
Top seed Novak Djokovic will play second on Centre Court against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the 13th seed, from France. These two have had one of the more one-sided head-to-heads over the past three years, with Djokovic claiming the last 10 matches, 9 of them in straight sets. They have met twice in 2014, both at Grand Slam level, with Djokovic winning 6-1 6-4 6-1 at Roland Garros and then 6-3 6-4 7-6(5) a few weeks later at Wimbledon. Tsonga has had to get past two compatriots to reach this battle with Djokovic, first defeating Edouard Roger-Vasselin 7-6(3) 6-1 and then Jeremy Chardy 7-6(6) 6-4. Novak Djokovic endured an intense, enthralling clash with another Frenchman – Gael Monfils – in his first match. After a convincing 6-2 first set, Monfils brought his tricks out of the bag, taking the second 7-6(4), before a tight third set saw Djokovic win in another tiebreak. Tsonga doesn’t look like he has enough firepower this season to stop the trend of his recent meetings with Djokovic, as the Serb looks set to progress to the quarter-finals.
The last Centre Court match of the day session features the 8th and 12th seeds, Andy Murray and Richard Gasquet, duking it out for a spot in the quarters. The pair played their first match against each other on the courts of Toronto back in 2006, when both very early in their careers. Gasquet won that match 6-2 7-5, however Murray has since won 5 of 7 against the Frenchman, with the last meeting coming at Miami last year. Gasquet began his hard court swing well with a semi-final performance at the Citi Open last week, losing to Vasek Pospisil 7-6(5) 3-6 5-7. He avenged that loss in the first round here in Toronto, defeating the Canadian on home soil 7-5 7-5. He then defeated the giant, Ivo Karlovic, 5-7 7-6(5) 6-3, to set up the clash with Murray. The Brit cruised through his opener, dismantling Aussie phenom, Nick Kyrgios, 6-2 6-2 in only 55 minutes. Murray served extremely well, firing down 7 aces and not facing a single break point. This match won’t be all smooth sailing for Murray, who has only defeated Gasquet in straight sets once, and he will need his wits about him if he is to progress.
The night session will no doubt be a full house, with Canadian no. 1 and 6th seed, Milos Raonic, taking on Julien Benneteau. The Frenchman has caused a couple of upsets already this week, defeating Hewitt 6-1 6-2 and Gulbis 7-6(4) 6-3, and is a dangerous opponent. Raonic is in top form, highlighted by his tournament win at the Citi Open in Washington last week, where he didn’t drop a set. Jack Sock was Raonic’s first opponent here at Toronto, and it was a gripping match full of strong serving. Despite not breaking the American, Raonic walked away victorious, 4-6 7-6(2) 7-6(4), in just under two and a half hours. It was a fiery match, and Sock certainly had his chances, but Raonic fixated that trademark snarl on his face and got the job done, much to the delight of a parochial home crowd. Benneteau and Raonic face each other for the fourth time, with the latter currently holding a 2-1 edge. They haven’t met for over a year, and this will be their first clash on outdoor hard. Despite his good play so far in Toronto, Benneteau looks to have too much to handle from Raonic tonight, with the Canadian fans to get their man over the line.
Global fan favourite and 2nd seed, Roger Federer, closes out the Centre Court schedule for Thursday as he takes on Marin Cilic. Federer looked unstoppable against Peter Polansky in his opener, dropping just two games in a 6-2 6-0 rout. His new racquet, the “RF 97”, had him as aggressive as ever, with 22 winners, 5 aces and a 100% break point conversion rate against the local. He is a two-time Rogers Cup Champion, and will be looking to add to that number this year, particularly with his kryptonite, Rafael Nadal, sidelined due to a wrist injury. Cilic hasn’t been altogether convincing to reach this stage of the tournament, defeating both Denis Istomin and Malek Jaziri in three sets. However he is an extremely dangerous player, having added considerable stick to his serve under the guidance of Goran Ivanisevic to go with his natural rallying tendencies. Federer leads the H2H 4-0, dropping just one set (U.S Open ’11), however the pair haven’t met since the back end of 2012. Cilic showed his talent when taking Djokovic to five sets at Wimbledon recently, however it’s hard not to envisage Federer making a quarter-final appearance at the Rogers Cup in 2014.
In other action for the day, Tommy Robredo will duel with Grigor Dimitrov in a battle of the single-handed backhands, David Ferrer looks to make it 3-0 against Ivan Dodig, and Feliciano Lopez will attempt to upset Tomas Berdych.
Some of the best tennis is played at Masters tournaments, and with a line-up like today’s, expect nothing short of high-quality entertainment as we traverse towards the business end of the tournament.