Stefanos Tsitsipas def. (9) Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3
Novak Djokovic, the No. 9 seed and reigning Wimbledon champion, was ousted in the Toronto third round by teenager Stefanos Tsitsipas in the biggest upset of the tournament so far.
Tsitsipas was in control early in the match, as Djokovic struggled with the depth and pace of the Greek’s groundstrokes. The world No. 27 secured an early break and held onto it fairly comfortably to pocket the lead.
The second set progressed with no breaks of serve and Djokovic rallied at the tail-end of the set to level the match at a set apiece. The safety was short-lived. Tsitsipas once again secured an early break and was again able to retain the lead for the upset win.
The biggest surprise of the match, besides the eventual outcome, is the fact that Djokovic hardly made a dent on the Tsitsipas serve. The Serb had just two break-point opportunities and converted neither of them.
(1) Rafael Nadal def. Stanislas Wawrinka 7-5, 7-6(4)
This match was much closer than the players’ rankings would suggest. Nadal is the clear No. 1 player in the world, with an impressive 35-3 record on the season heading into Toronto. Wawrinka is ranked 195th in the world (6-11 record prior to this week).
Yet Wawrinka is clearly far more talented than his ranking, and on Thursday evening he give Nadal a taste of the kind of talent and skill that once took him to the No. 3 on the chart.
Nadal is still finding his range on hard courts for the 2018 season. His last hard-court event prior to Toronto was the Australian Open, as the Spaniard missed the spring hard-court swing due to injury. He played well enough to hold serve through the first set and held his focus through a brief rain delay, breaking Wawrinka’s last service game of the set to take the lead.
Wawrinka went down an early break in the second, but solid play from the Swiss and some dodgy serving from Nadal allowed Wawrinka to not only earn the break back, but also to secure another. With the underdog threatening to level the match at a set apiece, Nadal raised his level and earned the break back again. The top seed closed out the match with a tidily-played tiebreaker.
Nadal will take on Marin Cilic in the quarterfinals on Friday.
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Tsitsipas has an overall better game than Novak. He should beat Novak 7 out of 10 times http://www.138mph.com/rogers-cup-tennis-stefanos-tsitsipas-game-seems-better-rounded-and-more-aggressive-than-novak-djokovics/
Huh?
How can Tsitsipas has a better game than Djoko? At least not yet! Djoko has better ROS, better court craft, better footwork. Tsitsipas has a big game and he’s not overly aggressive and that’s a plus point for him. He still has to learn how not to allow his matches (or his own service games) to drag on unnecessarily, by keeping up his own intensity and not have mental lapses. He has to improve his shot selection or court craft as a whole.
I like his game and hope he can go far and fulfills his potential.
His backhand is still vulnerable, but the pace of shot and depth are just lovely.