Novak Djokovic’s Rogers Cup title defense will continue during quarterfinal action on Friday against Richard Gasquet. It is a rematch of last year’s final in Toronto.
Novak Djokovic and Richard Gasquet will be squaring off for the ninth time in their careers when they collide in the quarterfinals of the Rogers Cup on Friday. Djokovic is dominating the head-to-head series 7-1, having prevailed most recently in the title match of this same event last year–held in Toronto instead of Montreal–with a 6-3, 6-2 victory. The Serb is 5-1 against Gasquet on hard courts and he has won five in a row overall since his lone loss to the Frenchman back in 2007 at the year-end championships.
Djokovic’s title defense is still alive and well, but not without a hiccup. After crushing Florian Mayer 6-2, 6-1 in his opener this week, the world No. 1 had to fight past Denis Istomin 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 on Thursday night. Djokovic is 41-6 for the season, which includes a triumph at the Australian Open and a recent runner-up finish to Andy Murray at Wimbledon.
Gasquet is enjoying a stellar 2013 campaign and he is playing like he wants to stay in the Top 10 despite having runner-up points to defend. The world No. 9 is 34-12 for a year in which he owns titles from Doha and Montpellier in addition to fourth-round performances at the Australian Open and French Open. Gasquet suffered an opening loss on the clay courts of Umag to Albert Montanes following a third-round Wimbledon setback against Bernard Tomic, but he is back on track this week with wins over Martin Klizan and Kei Nishikori.
It is not unusual to see top players struggle in the early rounds of big events, which Djokovic certainly did in the third round even though Istomin accounted himself in extremely impressive fashion. The top seed will likely treat it as a wake-up call, which is bad news for an opponent who is playing well but perhaps not at his very best at the moment. Gasquet has the talent to make this one more entertaining than their 2012 Rogers Cup affair, but it won’t be enough to change the outcome.
Pick: Djokovic in 2
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