
This week’s ATP Tour tennis action at the Masters 1000 Series Rogers Cup Toronto, Canada is down to the second round stage and the top eight seeds also join the action for the first time. There was no joy with either of the match bets and only Raonic was able to produce a winning performance. There were no major first round upsets at the time of writing but tenth seed Goffin, thirteenth seed Sock and sixteenth seed Kyrgios all lost in the first round. Britain’s Kyle Edmunds put in a shocker against eleventh seed Schwartzman losing one and two and Haase sent Nishikori packing in straight sets, which was probably injury related given Nishikori’s history.
The second round action kicks off today and top-seed Nadal faces Frenchman Paire and it should be another straight forward win for Rafa as he won all three previous meetings in straight sets. Second seed and ATP 500 Washington winner Sascha Zverev opens his campaign against American Bradley Klahn and while I expect Klahn to be competitive I don’t see him winning as he hasn’t got a major weapon to hurt Zverev. Third seed Del Potro will look to bounce straight back to winning ways today against veteran Haase, after he lost the Los Cabos final in disappointing fashion on Sunday. Del Potro leads the head-to-head 5-0 and should win this one but with him disappointing in Sunday’s final it’s possible he might be injured and is best watched to see what level he’s at.
Fourth seed Anderson plays his first tournament since Wimbledon and he was due to face either Donskoy or Rublev, fifth seed Dimitrov faces a tough opener against veteran Verdasco, the head-to-head stands at 4-3 to Verdasco and he won their only meeting this year at the French Open in straight sets. Sixth seed Cilic returns to the ATP Tour for the first time since Wimbledon and it’s an all Croatian affair against Coric. Cilic leads the head-to-head 6-0 and if he’s fit and anywhere near his best he should win this one. Seventh seed Thiem faces a tough opener against Nextgen star Tsitsipas who has been in great form and Thiem will need to be at his best to win this one.
Eighth seed and Atlanta winner Isner gets his campaign underway against qualifier Herbert, Isner leads the head-to-head 3-0 and he will need to put in a better performance than at Washington last week if he wants to extend his winning record to 4-0 as Herbert will be in confident mood having won three straight matches. Ninth seed Djokovic (advised 4/1) got his tournament off to a winning start yesterday beating the not so Lucky Loser Basic in straight sets. He faces Canadian veteran Polansky next up, he won their only encounter back in 2009 in straight sets, which was at this tournament but at it’s sister venue Montreal. Twelfth seed Carreno-Busta faces a tough opener against the big serving and hitting Khachanov but the Spaniard can take heart from the fact he won all three of their previous encounters, including at Eastbourne this year and Montreal last year.
Selections:
None