Tomic, Anderson Among Monday Winners In Toronto
Tomic, Anderson Among Monday Winners In Toronto
South African will face Thiem in second round
Twelfth seed Bernard Tomic started his sixth consecutive appearance at the Rogers Cup with a 6-4, 7-6(1) win over Colombian qualifier Alejandro Gonzalez on Monday, day one of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament in Toronto.
Tomic was perfect at the net – 12/12 – and hit 34 winners to help balance out his 41 unforced errors. “[Gonzalez] played two good matches in qualifying and he had a bit of momentum… so it was not easy for me,” Tomic said.
The Aussie’s best run at the Rogers Cup came last year when he reached the third round (l. to Tsonga).
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“I feel like here’s a good chance for me,” Tomic said. “I really have to focus and really go for my shots and relax if I want to make a quarter or semi.”
The 6’5” 23-year-old next will face Canadian wild card Steven Diez. The 25 year old, No. 192 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, earned the “biggest win” of his career by upsetting Brit Kyle Edmund 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. Diez won four of his 10 break points to land his first win at an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament.
“I’m really happy. I still don’t have a lot of words to describe what just happened. I know I played pretty well,” said Diez, who enjoyed the support from relatives at the match.
He had been 0-4 in Rogers Cup qualifying (2010, 2011, 2013, 2014).
South African Kevin Anderson prevailed against Serbian Viktor Troicki 7-6(4), 6-3 to move into the second round. The 30-year-old right-hander lost only five points on his first serve (29/34) and feasted on Troicki’s second offering, winning almost 60 per cent (10/18) of Troicki’s second-serve points.
The 2014 Rogers Cup quarter-finalist next will face sixth seed Dominic Thiem, who will be going for his first Rogers Cup victory. Anderson leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 4-0, including a three-set win at the Masters 1000 tournament in Paris last year.
Russian Mikhail Youzhny set-up a second-round contest against second seed Stan Wawrinka. The Moscow native beat Frenchman Stephane Robert 6-3, 7-6(6). The 34-year-old Youzhny, No. 61 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head series against Wawrinka 3-2, including a win the last time they played (2010 US Open).
Jack Sock, the 16th seed, won an all-American battle to advance to the second round. Sock dismissed Denis Kudla 6-2, 6-2 in an hour and eight minutes. The 23 year old will face compatriot Donald Young or Alexandr Dolgopolov of the Ukraine in the second round.