ATP Montreal: Rafael Nadal seeks title no. 5 against Thiem and Zverev
The Canadian Masters started way back in 1881, standing as one of the oldest active tennis tournaments together with the US Open and Wimbledon, having been played simultaneously in Montreal and Toronto. The Canada Open became a part of the Open era in 1969 and earned the Masters 1000 status in 1990, gathering the best players in the world ahead of the fourth Grand Slam of the season. Rod Laver, John Newcombe, Ilie Nastase, Guillermo Vilas, Bjorn Borg, Ivan Lendl (six titles during the 80s), John McEnroe, Boris Becker, Michael Chang, Andre Agassi, Marat Safin, Andy Roddick, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray have all won the title in Canada, making it one of the best winners' lists. The four most dominant players in the last 15 years or so have won 13 of the previous 15 titles here, with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Alexander Zverev as the only intruders in 2014 and 2017.
Just like last year, the defending champion Rafael Nadal is the top seed, seeking the fifth Canada Open title in the absence of Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer who have decided to skip Canada and make a comeback in Cincinnati. Nadal will open the campaign against Atlanta champion Alex de Minaur or a qualifier, with Radu Albot, Gilles Simon, David Goffin and Guido Pella as the potential rivals before the quarter-final where he can face Fabio Fognini or Borna Coric. If he brings his best tennis, Nadal should reach the semi-final without too many troubles, setting the clash against Stefanos Tsitsipas, Milos Raonic, Taylor Fritz, Gael Monfils, Roberto Bautista Agut or the 5th seed Kei Nishikori in the battle for the place in the title match.
In the third quarter, Karen Khachanov and a former champion Alexander Zverev are the players to beat, with the first-round clash between Stan Wawrinka and the struggling Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov. Kevin Anderson, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Nikoloz Basilashvili and another former winner Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will seek the semi-final spot as well, especially if the Russian and the German fail to deliver their 'A-game.' Daniil Medvedev, Nick Kyrgios, Kyle Edmund, John Isner, Marin Cilic, Denis Shapovalov and Dominic Thiem are the notable names in the bottom quarter and it should be interesting who will prevail from there and stay on the title course.
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2ZvYysE
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