Marin Cilic survived a tough three setter in his opening match at the Rogers Cup versus Denis Istomin. The 15th seed’s serve rescued him once more when the match got tight in the third and he won 6-2, 4-6, 7-5. Cilic had sailed through the first set before his mind began to wonder, and against a player as solid as Istomin, any lapse in concentration could be lethal. It so nearly was, but at the very end of the match, as Istomin served to take the third set to a tiebreaker, Cilic zoned in, striking the ball at his most aggressive and moving forward to force the issue and grab the decisive break.
One big serve who did not make it though was tenth seed John Isner. He was beaten 6-4, 6-7, 6-3 by Ivan Dodig. Not surprisingly, Isner won the only tiebreak in the match, but what was surprising was he was broken twice in the match, and faced 9 break points in all.
The other seed to fall was 14th seed Roberto Bautista-Agut who was upset 7-6 (7), 6-3 by Feliciano Lopez, not such an upset considering Lopez’s strengths on faster surfaces.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga , the 13th seed, beat Eduardo Roger-Vasselin 7-6, 6-1. Tsonga now moves one step closer to his projected French Open and Wimbledon rematch against Novak Djokovic. The Canadian Open has been the scene of some of Tsonga’s best career moments-he has beaten Roger Federer twice there. Could this be the venue where he gets his injury-hit career back on track?
Benoit Paire is now firmly back in the business of winning his opening rounds as he fought of Alejandro Falla in three sets. Other victors in three set tussles were Kevin Anderson and Jeremy Chardy.
Tim Smyczek and Michael Russell both won in straights. Julian Benneteau had a comprehensive 6-1, 6-2 win over Lleyton Hewitt, while wildcard local Peter Polansky beat slumping Jerzy Janowicz 7-6, 6-4. Polansky’s reward is a meeting with Roger Federer. How will the wildcard fare on Federer’s first Rogers Cup outing since 2011, and with the Swiss using his new RF-97 racket? Expect the stadium to be full tonight with spectators keen to see the outcome.
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Commentary by Christian Deverille
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