In Rogers Cup second round matches on Wednesday, no.2 seed Andy Murray of Great Britain defeated Spanish veteran Tommy Robredo, no.7 seed Rafael Nadal of Spain triumphed against Ukraine’s Sergiy Stakhovsky and no.4 seed Japan’s Kei Nishikori beat Spain’s Pablo Andujar. But there were heartbreaks for no.5 seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic and no.6 seeded Marin Cilic of Croatia. Berdych lost in straight sets to USA’s Donald Young while Cilic was done in by fast rising Bernard Tomic of Australia. In women’s matches at Toronto, defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska advanced to the third round by defeating Germany’s Julia Georges. Two women’s singles seeds fell at Toronto on Wednesday. While Belarusian Victoria Azarenka accounted for Czech Republic’s no.3 seed Petra Kvitova; Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic ousted Denmark’s no.4 seed Caroline Wozniacki. However, women’s no.2 seed Simona Halep made an easy progress to the third round by beating Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic and Serbian no.5 seed Ana Ivanovic also entered the third round with a victory of Belarus’ Olga Govortsova.
Great Britain’s Andy Murray entered the third round of the Rogers Cup with a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Spain’s Tommy Robredo. Their match was suspended on Tuesday because of rain with scores level at 4-4 in the first set. Resuming on Wednesday, the Scot won both points to take the first set 6-4 and broke Robredo’s service to lead 1-0 in the second. However, Robredo rallied to make it 4-2 before Murray got back his bearings to capture 5 out of the next 6 games to win the match 6-4, 7-5. For a place in the quarterfinal, Murray will play against Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller, who held off a stiff challenge by Frenchman Gael Monfils before beating him 6-3, 3-6, 7-6. Joining Murray in the third round was Spain’s former world no.1 Rafael Nadal, who defeated Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine. The three-time Rogers Cup champion was broken in the first set after leading 5-4 but found his rhythm to win it on tiebreak. Nadal then rolled on and took the match at 7-6, 6-3. In the third round Nadal will play Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny, who came through after beating no.9 seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon 6-1, 6-4.
Japan’s no.4 seed Kei Nishikori defeated Spain’s Pablo Andujar 6-3, 6-3 to set up a third round meeting with Belgium’s no.13 seed David Goffin. Earlier, Goffin defeated USA’s Sam Querrey 6-4, 6-4. In one of Wednesday’s upsets, no.5 seed Tomas Berdych lost 6-7, 3-6 to USA’s world no.79 Donald Young. Berdych began well by breaking Young at the start but after that everything went against the Czech. Meanwhile Croatia’s no.6 seed Marin Cilic also fell in the second round. The Croat was beaten by Australia’s Bernard Tomic, who has been having a great time in recent ATP tournaments. Tomic needed 69 minutes to beat Cilic 6-3, 6-4. Tomic’s third-round opponent will be defending champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who had to fight hard against Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut before beating him 5-7, 7-6,7-5.
In women’s matches at Toronto, no.2 seed Simona Halep of Romania defeated Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic 6-3, 6-4 to set up the third round clash with Germany’s no.13 seed Angelique Kerber, who came through by beating Puerto Rican qualifier Monic Puig 6-2, 6-3. 2014 champion Agnieszka Radwanska defeated Germany’s lucky loser Julia Goerges 7-5, 6-3 and she will next play against Frenchwoman Alize Cornet, who brushed aside the challenge from Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova with a 6-3, 6-2 victory. Ex world no.1 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus toppled no.3 seed Petra Kvitova 6-2, 6-3 to set up the third round clash with Italy’s Sara Errani, who defeated USA’s Madison Brengle 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.
.@Simona_Halep records 25th hard court win of 2015! Tops Jankovic 6-3, 6-4 @RogersCup-> http://t.co/CcoqWFDLey #WTA https://t.co/VwVz3rf1Nh
— WTA (@WTA) August 12, 2015
Another upset in women’s draw was caused by Swiss teenager Belinda Bencic, who ousted Denmark’s no.4 seed Caroline Wozniacki with a 7-5, 7-5 victory. Bencic now runs into Sabine Lisicki of Germany in the third round. Meanwhile the German accounted for Czech Republic’s Barbora Strycova 7-6, 6-4 in her second round match. Women’s no.5 seed Ana Ivanovic of Serbia also sailed into the third round winning at 6-4, 7-6 against Belarusian Olga Govortsova.
