Tennis News

Lajovic Stuns Felix To Reach Toronto Third Round

Dusan Lajovic shocked the Canadian crowd on Wednesday by defeating Felix Auger-Aliassime in straight sets to advance to the third round at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers.

Auger-Aliassime was unable to take advantage of the home support, with Lajovic winning 7-5, 6-4.

Lajovic capitalised on nerves and numerous Auger-Aliassime forehand unforced errors to defeat the 21-year-old for the second time.

“I’m happy with the way that I was able to play from the beginning until the end,” Lajovic said. “The game at 4-3 in the second set when I was serving was a really tricky one. I’m happy that I had a little bit of luck in some moments but the most important thing was that was able to control the match and the way that I was able to make him uncomfortable.”

Auger-Aliassime’s costly double fault gifted Lajovic a break at 6-5 in the opening set, and the Serb held routinely in the following game to take a one-set advantage. Lajovic broke serve again in the third game of the second set and did not look back, with the World No. 41 saving two break points on his way to victory.

Following the defeat Auger-Aliassime believed that there were opportunities to get back into the match which he did not take.

“If you look at the match overall, especially in the second set, I felt like I had chances where I could have done better to get a break, to give myself a chance of maybe going three sets, but it is what it is,” Auger-Aliassime said.

Lajovic will look to claim his first win against Casper Ruud in the third round. Ruud has been in remarkable form in recent weeks, winning his past three tournaments (Bastad, Gstaad and Kitzbuhel) and holding a 35-9 record in 2021.

“He’s a guy with a lot of wins right now. It’s not going to be easy,” Lajovic said. “I’m going to be fighting for every point and we’ll see how it’s going to go.”

Auger-Aliassime’s defeat leaves Denis Shapovalov as the only Canadian in the draw. There has not been a Canadian men’s singles winner of the event since Robert Bedard in 1958.

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Nadal Withdraws From Cincinnati

Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from next week’s Western & Southern Open due to his ongoing left foot injury, the tournament announced Wednesday.

The Spanish superstar on Tuesday pulled out of the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers ahead of his second-round match against Lloyd Harris. The injury forced Nadal to take 20 days off following Roland Garros before making his return at the Citi Open in Washington, where he lost in the third round against Harris.

Nadal, who lifted the Cincinnati trophy in 2013, is 24-5 this season with titles in Barcelona and Rome. The lefty is No. 4 in the FedEx ATP Rankings.

Canadian Milos Raonic also withdrew due to a heel injury. Last year, the former World No. 3 made the final of the Western & Southern Open, which was held at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Harriet Dart knocked out of Canadian Open by Bianca Andreescu

Britain’s Harriet Dart is out of the Canadian Open after a 6-1 3-6 6-3 defeat by defending champion Bianca Andreescu in the second round.

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Day 3 Preview: Shapovalov, Felix Lead Canadian Charge In Toronto

Fifth seed Denis Shapovalov and ninth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime will be eager to put on a show for Canadian fans on Wednesday as they compete on home soil for the first time since 2019 at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers. 

Shapovalov has come a long way since his 2017 breakthrough at his home ATP Masters 1000 event, and he returns to Toronto on a high after turning heads on grass courts. The 22-year-old reached his first Grand Slam semi-final at Wimbledon (l. to Djokovic), taking down the likes of Andy Murray, Roberto Bautista Agut and Karen Khachanov along the way.

He will be aiming to keep that momentum going as he faces Frances Tiafoe in the second round. The American lucky loser won their first encounter back in 2018, but Shapovalov has won all their matches since to lead their ATP Head2Head 4-1.  The winner will face either 11th seed Gael Monfils or John Millman of Australia.

“The momentum is great from Wimbledon and I just feel like the past couple of months my game level has improved a couple more steps up,” Shapovalov said in a pre-tournament press conference. “I just feel like a confident player right now, I feel like I’m able to compete with anyone. I feel like I’m becoming a really big threat. Those are definitely super positive things for me.”

Joining Shapovalov in the quest to become the first men’s singles champion from Canada since Robert Bedard in 1958 – and the first in the Open Era – will be ninth seed Auger-Aliassime. The 21-year-old celebrated his birthday two days ago, and he aims to keep the party going as he faces Dusan Lajovic in his opening match. 

Auger-Aliassime trails Lajovic 0-1 in their ATP Head2Head, but he arrives in Toronto with three hard-court matches under his belt. He will aim to shake off disappointing early exits at the Tokyo Olympics and Washington as he seeks to reach a second ATP Masters 1000 semi-final this week in Toronto. The in-form Casper Ruud, seeded sixth, will await the winner. 

Also in action, fourth seed Andrey Rublev and Fabio Fognini will contest the ninth chapter of their increasing rivalry as they face off in the second round. The Italian leads their ATP Head2Head 5-3, but Rublev has won their past two encounters. Rublev or Fognini will face the winner of John Isner and 13th seed Cristian Garin.

Elsewhere, 15th seed Aslan Karatsev and Karen Khachanov will do battle in a clash between Olympic silver medalists – Khachanov in singles, Karatsev in mixed doubles (w/ Vesnina). The winner will next face third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas. 

Click here to view the full Day 3 Order Of Play.

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Tsitsipas Earns Humbert Revenge In Toronto

Stefanos Tsitsipas bounced back after dropping an epic 22-minute second-set tie-break to Ugo Humbert – letting five match points slip by – and raised his level to win 6-3, 6-7(13), 6-1 on Tuesday at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers.

The newly minted World No. 3 in the FedEx ATP Rankings has been in red-hot form all year, and arrived in Toronto with the most victories on the ATP Tour in 2021 with 42. He added to that count as he claimed his first victory over the 22-year-old Frenchman, improving to 1-2 in their ATP Head2Head. 

The victory also earned Tsitsipas a dose of revenge over Humbert, the player who defeated him in both their previous meetings – including knocking him out of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the Round of 16 last month. 

“It’s all about the fighting spirit,” Tsitsipas said. “I’m someone who doesn’t like to give up… It wasn’t easy out there today. I had to do a lot. I put a lot of effort into stepping it up and to be my best today.”

Tsitsipas moved into the third round, where he will await the winner of 15th seed Aslan Karatsev and Karen Khachanov. Khachanov took down Cameron Norrie 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 on Tuesday to ensure the all-Russian clash.

The third seed was strong on serve as he raced out of the blocks against the Halle champion Humbert, keeping him under pressure on serve. He created seven break points in the opening set and converted at 4-3 after a double fault. He continued his momentum in the second set, charging ahead to a late break to take a 5-3 lead. 

But just as the Greek player was serving for the match, a shaky service game opened the door for Humbert, and the Frenchman gladly muscled through to level the score at 5-5. Humbert hit a purple patch at just the right time, out-rallying Tsitsipas from the back of the court and hitting outrageous winners off both wings. 

Both players wrestled for the momentum as the second set went into a tie-break, each having ample opportunities to take the deciding tilt. Tsitsipas created five match points, but Humbert showed his grit to save them all as he forced errors out of the Tsitsipas racquet. He needed four set points of his own to close out the marathon 22-minute tie-break and win the second set. 

After such a titanic effort, a letdown seemed inevitable and Tsitsipas was quick to capitalise as his opponent struggled to hit through the court. The Greek player won five unanswered games and served out the contest on his seventh opportunity to win in two hours and 36 minutes. 

“I took a break, I went to refresh myself. I kind of put it behind,” Tsitsipas said of how he mentally re-set ahead of the third set. “I didn’t want to think about it. Whatever happened happened, and I don’t want anything to affect me. I don’t want anything to get inside my head. I just showed incredible mental balance and mental strength to overcome this difficult tie-break that I just experienced… I still had high hopes that I could pull something good off.”

Tsitsipas is seeking his third title of the year in Toronto, after clinching his first ATP Masters 1000 crown at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters and lifting the trophy in Lyon.

Elsewhere in Toronto, sixth seed Casper Ruud extended his winning streak to 12 matches with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 victory over Marin Cilic. The Norwegian turned heads in recent weeks with dominant performances to win three ATP 250 titles in consecutive weeks in Bastad, Gstaad and Kitzbuhel. 

Ruud showed no signs of slowing down on hard courts, battling for two hours and five minutes against Cilic in a rain-interrupted second-round clash. The sixth seed won 87 per cent (39/45) of points behind his first serve and converted two of three break opportunities to advance. He awaits the winner of ninth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime and Dusan Lajovic in the next round. 

Reilly Opelka backed up his big win over Nick Kyrgios with another confident victory as he took down 14th seed Grigor Dimitrov 6-3, 6-4. The big-serving American kept the points short against Dimitrov, who has not won back-to-back matches since April. Opelka fired 22 winners, including 12 aces, and won 81 per cent (22/27) of points behind his first serve.

Opelka awaits the winner of Lloyd Harris and lucky loser Feliciano Lopez, who replaced Rafael Nadal in the draw (left foot injury). The American downplayed talk that Nadal’s absence was a boost for him. “It’s not much of an opening. Lloyd Harris beat Rafa last week in Washington. Everyone here is good,” Opelka said.

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Rafael Nadal: Foot injury forces former US Open champion to pull out of Canadian Open

Rafael Nadal withdraws from the Canadian Open with an ongoing foot injury, less than three weeks before the US Open begins.

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Bolelli/Gonzalez Begin Toronto Campaign

Simone Bolelli and Maximo Gonzalez began their National Bank Open Presented by Rogers campaign with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Canadians Peter Polansky and Brayden Schnur on Tuesday in Toronto.

The Wimbledon semi-finalists, who have captured three tour-level titles this year in Mallorca, Parma and Santiago, won 81 per cent (21/26) of their first-service points to advance in 71 minutes.

Bolelli and Gonzalez will next face Rohan Bopanna and Ivan Dodig after the Indian-Croatian tandem defeated Italians Fabio Fognini and Lorenzo Sonego 6-4, 7-6(4) in one hour and 27 minutes.

Fifth seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo also advanced with a 7-5, 6-4 win against Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz and #NextGenATP Italian Jannik Sinner. It is just the third tournament of the year for the Polish-Brazilan team. After starting new partnerships at the beginning of the season, Kubot and Melo, who won the Wimbledon title in 2017, reunited at Roland Garros. 

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Nadal Withdraws From Toronto

Second seed Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers due to a left foot injury, the tournament announced Tuesday.

“I have had this issue for a couple of months, as people know,” Nadal said. “Of course, it is not a happy situation after all the success that I had here in Canada, not being able to play this year after missing a year. It’s a tough one, but that’s how it is today. I need to go back and try to find a way to be better again. At the end of the day, for me the most important thing is to enjoy playing tennis. Today, with this pain, I am not able to enjoy it, and I really don’t believe that I have the chance to fight for the things that I really need to fight for.”

Nadal’s left foot injury forced him to miss Wimbledon and the Tokyo Olympics. The legendary lefty returned last week at the Citi Open in Washington, where he battled through his opening match against Jack Sock in a final-set tie-break before losing against South African Lloyd Harris in three sets in the third round.

“I really wanted to play here a lot, but now is the moment to make a decision,” Nadal said. “This is unfortunately the decision that I have taken, and probably in the next couple of days we are going to know more.”

Fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez will replace Nadal in the draw as a lucky loser. The 39-year-old will play Harris in the second round.

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Medvedev Survives Scare In Toronto

Top seed Daniil Medvedev made a winning return at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers on Tuesday, the tournament in which the Russian enjoyed a breakthrough run to his first ATP Masters 1000 final in 2019.

The World No. 2 was made to work hard, overcoming Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in a rain-disrupted clash in Toronto to kick start his North American hard-court swing.

“[The rain delay] helped a lot,” Medvedev said in his on-court interview. “I don’t know if the conditions changed with the humidity, but I was not playing well before the rain. I had my opportunities. I was missing second-serve returns, missing balls. I knew I had to play better if I was to win.

“When back on the court, from the first game I felt much better. I only felt better and better during the match, he did not have one break point [after the rain]. I turned around the match completely. It is a tough draw, even without Rafael Nadal. It does open up the draw [though] for sure.”

Medvedev is looking to capture his 12th tour-level title this week in a country where he has fond memories. In 2019, the 25-year-old broke new ground at Canada’s Masters 1000 event. He cruised through to the final in Montreal, not dropping a set before falling to Nadal.

It was a run that helped propel Medvedev to his maiden Masters 1000 title in Cincinnati one week later and his first Grand Slam final at the US Open the following month.

Medvedev, who has since won two more Masters 1000 titles and captured the 2020 Nitto ATP Finals crown, served well throughout against Bublik. The Russian caused the World No. 39 problems with his flat backhand to improve to 4-0 in their ATP Head2Head Series.

It is the third time Medvedev has defeated Bublik this season, having downed the 24-year-old at Roland Garros and the Tokyo Olympics in straight sets. The top seed will next face either #NextGenATP Italian Jannik Sinner or James Duckworth in the third round.

Medvedev, who guided Russia to the ATP Cup title in February before reaching the Australian Open final, has won trophies on hard in Marseille and grass in Mallorca this season.

Bublik made a fast start in Toronto as he looked to move the Russian around. After Medvedev fended off three break points from 0/40 in the fifth game, he was unable to do so again moments later, misfiring on serve to fall 4-5 behind. Bublik, who brought his usual variety and entertainment to court, held serve to move ahead.

After rain temporally halted play with Medvedev leading 2-1 in the second set, the 25-year-old returned to court just under an hour later in a determined mood. He won three of the first four games on resumption as he stepped inside the baseline to close out points quickly. Having drawn level, Medvedev then dropped just three points on serve in the third set to seal his win in two hours.

Bublik, who leads the ace count on tour this year, has enjoyed a strong season. The 24-year-old advanced to finals in Antalya and Singapore, while also reaching the quarter-finals at two Masters 1000 events in Miami and Madrid.

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Khachanov Battles Past Norrie In Toronto

Karen Khachanov maintained his high level on Tuesday when he defeated in-form Briton Cameron Norrie 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 to reach the second round of the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers.

The previous meeting between Khachanov and Norrie was a much different story, with the Brit winning 6-1 6-1 in Lyon earlier this year.

Norrie recently won his first ATP Tour title at the Mifel Open in Los Cabos, and this defeat is only his second loss in the first round in the 18 tournaments that he has played in 2021.

Khachanov took firm control of the match immediately, racing to a double-break lead in the opening set. Norrie’s level rose towards the end of the set, putting pressure on Khachanov, but he was ultimately unable to prevent Khachanov from taking a one-set advantage.

The second set was a tense affair, with neither player able to break serve until the final game, with Norrie taking it 7-5 on his fourth break point of the set.

In the deciding set it was the World No. 28 Khachanov who held his nerve, moving on to the second round where he will play fellow Russian Aslan Karatsev. Both Khachanov and Karatsev won medals in Tokyo, with Karatsev taking silver in mixed doubles.

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