TENNIS NEWS – NOVAK DJOKOVIC HEADLINES DEPLETED FIELD AT ROGERS CUP, JOINED BY STAN WAWRINKA AND MILOS RAONIC

Written by: Staff on 25th July 2016

TENNIS NEWS - NOVAK DJOKOVIC HEADLINES DEPLETED FIELD AT ROGERS CUP, JOINED BY STAN WAWRINKA AND MILOS RAONIC

epa05008779 Serbian Novak Djokovic serves a ball to Andy Murray of Great Britain during their men's semi-final singles match at the Rogers Cup Open ATP tennis tournament in Montreal, Canada, 16 Aug 2015. Djokovic later won the match EPA/ANDRE PICHETTE |

By Ricky Dimon

The Toronto Masters may be called the Rogers Cup, but it won’t have anything else to do with Roger–at least not this year. Roger Federer is among the many names on a disturbing list of withdrawals that also includes fellow top 10 players Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Novak Djokovic, however, is on board. The world No. 1, who captured this title in both 2011 and 2012, is joined by No. 2 seed Stan Wawrinka, No. 3 Kei Nishikori, and No. 4 Milos Raonic.

Ricky takes a look at the draw and makes his predictions:

This is not your normal Rogers Cup, which is being held much earlier than usual in the summer because of the Olympic-inspired rearranging of the tennis schedule. With players either still recuperating after Wimbledon or taking it easy in advance of the Rio Olympics, Toronto’s draw is strikingly barren–at least by Masters 1000 standards. In addition to Murray, Federer, Nadal, and Tsonga being on the sidelines, David Ferrer and Richard Gasquet are also part of the absentee group.

Stan Wawrinka could be a beneficiary, because a rare distinction of being the No. 2 seed at a Masters tournament has automatically placed him on the other side of the draw from Djokovic. But given Wawrinka’s relatively mediocre form and with Dominic Thiem finally appearing to run on empty, this section looks particularly vulnerable. Jack Sock or Bernard Tomic could be able to take full advantage of the draw.

Kei Nishikori of Japan in action against Andy Murray of Great Britain during their men’s semi-final singles match at the Rogers Cup Open ATP tennis tournament in Montreal, Canada, 15 Aug 2015. EPA/ANDRE PICHETTE

In fact, the entire bottom half of the bracket is markedly soft. The other two first-round bye recipients (joining Wawrinka and Thiem) are Nishikori and Marin Cilic. Nishikori retired from a Wimbledon fourth-rounder (against Cilic, ironically) because of a rib problem and although the Cilic almost punched a ticket to the semis, the Croat remains inconsistent. A pair of talented youngsters in Nick Kyrgios and Lucas Pouille have to be loving their places in the draw. Kyrgios will begin against Wimbledon junior champion Denis Shapovalov, a Canadian wild card, before possibly meeting Cilic in the third round. Pouille should cruise through two matches prior to a potential encounter with Nishikori.

Djokovic is likely to have things in cruise control until at least the semis—unless John Isner reaches the quarterfinals. But Isner is in the same section as arguably his biggest nemesis, Tomas Berdych, so he may be hard-pressed even get a shot at Djokovic. Making his first appearance since losing at Wimbledon to Sam Querrey in a third-round stunner, Djokovic will likely open in Toronto against a confident Gilles Muller before possibly facing the up-and-down Benoit Paire.

Paire, though, is making a quick turnaround after getting blown out by Zverev in the Washington, D.C. quarterfinals. The Frenchman may have to be put on upset alert in round one against Radek Stepanek, because the veteran Czech already has two qualifying victories under his belt in Toronto.

Whereas Wimbledon was the scene of a significant letdown for Djokovic, it was a huge success for Raonic. world No. 7 could not quite snag his first major title, but it was still the most impressive Grand Slam run of his life. Raonic, also a former runner-up at the Rogers Cup, could battle David Goffin with a spot in the quarterfinals at stake. Goffin almost knocked Raonic out of the All-England Club during fourth-round action, but Canada’s top player stormed back from a two sets to love deficit and got the job done in five. Neither player, however, can look ahead in Toronto. Raonic’s second-rounder is likely to come against Alexander Zverev, while Goffin is in the same part of the bracket as Washington, D.C. title winner Gael Monfils.

Quarterfinal picks: Novak Djokovic over Tomas Berdych, Milos Raonic over David Goffin, Nick Kyrgios over Lucas Pouille, and Jack Sock over Bernard Tomic

Semifinals: Djokovic over Raonic and Kyrgios over Sock

Final: Djokovic over Kyrgios