Rafael Nadal probably shouldn’t be dominating hard-court tournaments, especially not those taking place in the second half of a long, grueling tennis season. But with Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer on the sidelines, “dominate” is exactly what Nadal might do at this week’s Rogers Cup.
The top-seeded Spaniard did not enjoy a cakewalk in his opener, as he held off Dan Evans 7-6(6), 6-4 in a rain-delayed affair on Wednesday. But things could open up nicely for Nadal from now on, as his nearest seed (David Goffin) is out and the second-highest seed in the top half of the draw (No. 4 Strefanos Tsitsipas) has also exited. No. 5 seed Kei Nishikori, another potential semifinal opponent for Nadal, joined the exodus by falling to Richard Gasquet in round two.
“Always is tough, first match on hard court after such a long time,” the world No. 2 explained following his victory over Evans. “After Wimbledon, the mind always goes down a little bit because I have been playing a long clay-court season, then grass, so you didn’t relax. Then when you finish Wimbledon, it’s like your body loses a little bit of that tension, so it needs little bit of time to recover.
“Today, the main thing is win. I know with victories that other things should be coming slowly. I have been playing and practicing more or less well. Now is the moment to compete. Today I competed enough well to be through. Tomorrow is another challenge.”
Next up for Nadal is Guido Pella, who ousted Goffin in round one and is coming off a 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(2) win over Radu Albot.
Possible semifinal foes for the four-time Rogers Cup champion now include Gasquet, Roberto Bautista Agut, Gael Monfils, and Hubert Hurkacz. It’s hard to see any of that contingent pulling off an upset. Nadal completely owns Gasquet and Bautista Agut, Monfils is running even lower on energy than usual, and Hurkacz–who upset Tsitsipas on Wednesday–is inexperienced.
“It’s a huge win,” Hurkacz assured. “Stefanos is an amazing player… I’m so happy that I won. I think I served really well today; that helped me a lot.”
On the other side of the draw, two of the most dangerous big servers that Nadal could have faced in a possible title match are gone. Nick Kyrgios lost easily to Kyle Edmund in round one, two days after triumphing in Washington, D.C.; John Isner got bounced out by Christian Garin in the second round.
Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev are still alive, but Thiem has been struggling away from clay right now and Zverev is in a prolonged slump by his standards.
At the moment it looks like the Rogers Cup will be Rafa’s Cup. But it’s still early.
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who will win if not Nadal?
Well, isn’t his Italian nemesis The Fabulous Fog still in the draw?
I can’t see anyone on paper who could beat Rafa. He has never been able to defend a hardcourt title. It could happen for the first time in Montreal. But who knows? So far he has played only one match. We need to see more…
Fabio has to beat Mannarino first. Which should happen. Then Rafa will play Fabio. But that was something I did not pick in my bracket. Borna Coric was supposed to take out the Italian nemesis.
One match at a time, I guess.
Oh no. It’s Rafa v Fabio. Fabio will be fired up about it. Rafa has to subdue him quickly if at all possible!
Medvedev is the only one, if not Rafa. But I want to see Rafa beat Medvedev to win this final!!
Oh, I dunno. Sometimes you get a surprise. Rafa’s looking good though. Not too worried about Foggy. Rafa’s had a few big losses to him, but not when he was playing well. I’m peculiar, always much more worried in the early rounds. Once Rafa gets to quarters or semis I figure he can take care of himself!
Really, really tired of hearing that Rafa has never defended a HC title. Every commentator/writer seems to bring that one up at every opportunity, like it’s some kind of curse. Saw an interview today where Rafa was asked if he felt like the defending champ since he won in Toronto last year. Rafa said politely that he didn’t think about being the defending champ, just about winning the next match.
A good field at Montreal despite the absence of Fed and Djoko (and Delpo, Anderson due to injuries).
There are so many good matches even at R3 stage, esp Thiem vs Cilic, Khachanov vs FAA, Sasha vs Basil, even those in straight sets Foggy and Medvedev are good.
I’m really impressed by Thiem, able to beat Shapo and Cilic B2B on the HCs, he’ll face red hot Medvedev next. If he gets through that QF, I think he has a good chance to get to the final (and meets Rafa there I hope).
Rafa will have a hard time in the QF against Foggy; Foggy looks inspired and Rafa is wary of him imo. Rafa must calm his nerve and plays his best to beat Foggy.
I like it that all four QF contestants in the other half of the draw are youngsters in the TOP ten; maybe this is the first time that it’s happening (likely because there’s no Fed or Djoko around).
Monfils beats Hurkacz (who beat Tsitsipas in R2) to reach the QF, will be meeting Agut there who beats an on fire Gasquet (Gasquet had sent Nishi packing in the previous round after three hours!).
Rafa’s half of the draw are all veterans and seeded players in the QF; I think we’ll have four good QFs on Friday.
A good field at Montreal despite the absence of Fed and Djoko (and Delpo, Anderson due to injuries).
There are so many good matches even at R3 stage, esp Thiem vs Cilic, Khachanov vs FAA, Sasha vs Basil, even those in straight sets Foggy and Medvedev are good.
I’m really impressed by Thiem, able to beat Shapo and Cilic B2B on the HCs, he’ll face red hot Medvedev next. If he gets through that QF, I think he has a good chance to get to the final (and meets Rafa there I hope).
Rafa will have a hard time in the QF against Foggy; Foggy looks inspired and Rafa is wary of him imo. Rafa must calm his nerve and plays his best to beat Foggy.
I like it that all four QF contestants in the other half of the draw are youngsters in the TOP ten; maybe this is the first time that it’s happening (likely because there’s no Fed or Djoko around).
Monfils beats Hurkacz (who beat Tsitsipas in R2) to reach the QF, will be meeting Agut there who beats an on fire Gasquet (Gasquet had sent Nishi packing in the previous round after three hours!).
Rafa’s half of the draw are all veterans and seeded players in the QF; I think we’ll have four good QFs on Friday.
Good matches so far in R3.
I’m really impressed with Thiem for beating Shapo and Cilic B2B on the HCs. I think if he beats Medvedev, he’ll reach the final (and hopefully Rafa is there)!
I like it that four young guys in the top ten reaches the QF; Rafa’s half of the draw has four veterans, hope Rafa plays well to beat Foggy, and Monfils or Agut to reach the final.
agreed about Thiem
dont think he will beat Med, though