Djokovic Looks Ahead To Toronto 2016 Final
Djokovic Looks Ahead To Toronto 2016 Final
Jul302016
Mergea/Tecau oust Bryans
Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares battled into the semi-finals of the Rogers Cup on Friday in Toronto as they edged Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram 3-6, 7-5, 10-4.
The Australian Open champions saved three break points in the seventh game of the second set before breaking in the 12th game to force a Match Tie-break, which they dominated.
Watch live tennis at tennistv.com
“It was a very difficult match to be honest,” Soares told ATPWorldTour.com. “We had to hang in there. They were the better team for the most part of the match. They were serving extremely well. Jamie and I talked and said we have to keep holding serve and take it to a tie-break.
“Luckily we played a very good game at 6-5 and managed to take it to the Match Tie-break. Then it kind of flipped around. We got the momentum going. Returned very well and were able to win quite comfortably. But it was one of those days. They were the better team, but we hung in there and played well at the end.”
They next will face Canadians Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil, who beat the Czech team of Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek 6-3, 7-6(6).
“We are excited to play on centre court, obviously,” said Pospisil, looking ahead to the semi-final clash. “We like playing at home in front of big crowds… We will try to use the energy of the crowd as much as we can to our advantage. But we like playing in Canada. We have played well here and we are playing well right now. We will take that into the match tomorrow.”
Romanians Florin Mergea and Horia Tecau ousted top seeds and five-time champions Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan 6-3, 6-3 to book their spot in the semi-finals.
“It was a great match for us,” Tecau told ATPWorldTour.com. “We managed to execute everything that we wanted today in our plan. We came up with an early break in the first set that gave us the momentum and we won that set with two breaks. Then we were able to continue our good form and return well and serve well. It was just one of those matches where we prepared well and were able to execute how we wanted.”
Mergea and Tecau will next face third seeds Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo, who came from a set down to beat Henri Kontinen and John Peers 3-6, 6-4, 10-8 in 75 minutes.
Frenchman will try to earn first win against Djokovic in SF
Gael Monfils brushed off a rare packed crowd rooting against him to reach his second ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semi-final of the season at the Rogers Cup in Toronto on Friday night.
The Frenchman refused to fold against the home favourite Milos Raonic, never losing his serve and breaking the big-serving Canadian twice to advance 6-4, 6-4 in an hour and 12 minutes. Time and time again it looked as if Raonic would gain the upper hand with thousands cheering for him, only for Monfils to rally and hold serve.
“I think I’m a guy [who’s] always pumped up. Any energy, I take it. Even if it’s for me or not for me, I take it,” Monfils said.
The 29 year old, who also reached the final in Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, will face top seed Novak Djokovic in Saturday’s second semi-final contest. The Serbian is undefeated against Monfils, 11-0.
The Frenchman will bring a streak of his own into the last four match-up – nine, as in the number of matches Monfils has now won in a row, dating back to his title run in Washington. The ATP World Tour 500 championship was his biggest title victory yet, and he’s carried that momentum into Toronto.
Watch live tennis at tennistv.com
At 3-4 in the first set, Raonic guided a forehand wide to give Monfils the break, which the Paris native celebrated with a scream that fell on hushed, partisan ears. The next game, Monfils dug in to erase three break points and held serve with a service winner after five deuces.
“I had some opportunities, and tonight I just made them,” Monfils said.
At 4-all in the second set, the Frenchman erased another break point and held after two more deuces. He broke Raonic at love to another scream and a fist pump to his team. Monfils clinched the quarter-final match with his seventh ace.
“He was doing a lot of good things. He played well. He played smart in the right moments. He was making the shots,” Raonic said. “I’ll look back at this and give it the right amount of perspective and try to take it to the next process, next step forward, to be better next time.”
Frenchman Gael Monfils beat Canadian Milos Raonic in straight sets on Friday to set up a Rogers Cup semi-final with world number one Novak Djokovic.
Monfils, 29, beat the fourth-seeded home favourite, a Wimbledon finalist earlier this month, 6-4 6-4 in Toronto.
Serbia’s Djokovic made 33 unforced errors but still progressed with a 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 win over Czech Tomas Berdych.
Swiss second seed Stan Wawrinka and Japan’s third seed Kei Nishikori will meet in Saturday’s other semi-final.
Johanna Konta missed a chance to become the first British woman to break into the world’s top 10 for 32 years with a Rogers Cup quarter-final defeat.
Konta, 25, lost 6-4 6-3 to Slovakian qualifier and world number 121 Kristina Kucova on Friday in Montreal, Canada.
A win for Konta, ranked 147th last June, would have made her the first British woman since Jo Durie in September 1984 to make the WTA top 10.
Kucova, 26, will play American 10th seed Madison Keys in the semi-final.
Romanian Simona Halep and Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber of Germany will meet in the other semi-final.
The surprise defeat for Konta comes a week after she claimed her first WTA Tour title in California, and in a year that has seen her reach a Grand Slam semi-final in Australia.
She had won seven matches in a row before meeting Kucova, having gone on a 16-match winning streak during the North American hard-court season in 2015.
Kucova said: “I cannot believe it – I’m so happy. There is no secret to my success. I feel so good here. I get so much energy from the crowd.”
From Andre Agassi’s triumph in 1992 to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga’s magical run in 2014, we’ve selected eight Classic Moments from the Rogers Cup. Now, we need your help to crown the Golden Moment from this ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament.
We’re down to the final two!
Federer Outduels Berdych (2010) vs Safin’s First Masters Title (2000)
Which will be the Golden Moment? Watch the clips and vote for your favourite. The final runs from now through 8pm ET Sunday, July 31.
Watch & Vote
The semi-finals featured two head-to-head battles:
Federer Outduels Berdych (2010) vs Rafter Dominates The Field (1998)
Safin’s First Masters Title (2000) vs Canas Survives Brutal Draw (2002)
The first round featured the following match-ups:
Agassi Stops Lendl (1992) vs Federer Outduels Berdych (2010)
Rafter Dominates The Field (1998) vs Murray Punishes Nadal (2010)
Safin’s First Masters Title (2000) vs Djokovic Edges Monfils (2014)
Canas Survives Brutal Draw (2002) vs Tsonga’s Magical Week (2014)