A semifinal spot will be at stake when Andy Murray and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga meet on Friday in Toronto. Grigor Dimitrov and Kevin Anderson are also in action heading into championship weekend.
(13) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. (8) Andy Murray
Tsonga and Murray will be facing each other for the 11th time in their careers when they clash in the quarterfinals of the Rogers Cup on Friday. Murray is dominating the head-to-head series 9-1, including 5-1 on hard courts. They most recently squared off earlier this season in Miami, where the Scot cruised 6-4, 6-1. Tsonga, though, may finally be playing with some confidence. The 15th-ranked Frenchman is a modest 27-13 for the season with no titles to his credit, but he crushed world No. 1 Novak Djokovic 6-2, 6-2 on Thursday.
Murray had an even more routine day at the office; in fact, he did not even take the court. Following a first-round bye and a 6-2, 6-2 rout of Nick Kyrgios, the world No. 9 got a walkover from Richard Gasquet. Both men are contesting their first tournament since Wimbledon, although neither is showing any kind of rust at the moment. While Tsonga’s win over Djokovic was a great one, the top seed was a shadow of his real safe and past history in this particular matchup suggests Murray will not be so generous.
Pick: Murray in 3
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Kevin Anderson vs. (7) Grigor Dimitrov
Anderson and Dimitrov will be squaring off for the sixth time in their careers at the ATP level on Friday. Dimitrov leads the head-to-head series 4-1 after pulling out a thriller of an Acapulco final via a 7-6(1), 3-6, 7-6(5) decision a few months ago. The eighth-ranked Bulgarian is playing the best and by far the most consistent tennis of his career this season. His 37-10 record record includes three titles, a semifinal showing at Wimbledon, and wins this week over Donald Young and Tommy Robredo.
One of two unseeded players remaining in the draw (Feliciano Lopez), Anderson has advanced with victories over Thanasi Kokkinakis, Fabio Fognini, and Stanislas Wawrinka. The 21st-ranked South African did not play particularly well in Atlanta or Washington, D.C., but he got plenty of hard-court match practice under his belt and it is paying off in Toronto. Anderson has fired 36 aces compared to just three double-faults this week. If he continues to serve well, an upset is possible against an opponent who needed three sets in each of his first two outings.
Pick: Anderson in 3
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set Anderson
Oh my, massive choke by Anderson at 40/15 5/4.
….and then double faults on match point in the tiebreak. So it’ll be Grigor vs Jo in the semis. With his current form, gotta go with Jo.
I can’t believe that Tsonga beat Novak and Andy back-to-back! Has the earth gone off its axis? It’s not like Tsonga has done anything this year that would make one think he could pull this off.
So it’s Dimitrov vs. Tsonga. Who would have thought? That ought to be a good one.