RAFAEL NADAL CAN BECOME NO.1 AT ROGERS CUP, ROGER FEDERER SEEDED SECOND WITH ANDY MURRAY OUT

Written by: Staff on 6th August 2017

French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros

RAFAEL NADAL CAN BECOME NO.1 AT ROGERS CUP, ROGER FEDERER SEEDED SECOND WITH ANDY MURRAY OUT

epa06019258 Rafael Nadal of Spain reacts as he plays against Dominic Thiem of Austria during their men?s singles semi final match during the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 09 June 2017. EPA/YOAN VALAT |

By Ricky Dimon

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have been the undisputed standout players of this season and there is no reason to think anything will change in the final months. With Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, and Stan Wawrinka headlining an extensive list of injured stars, Federer and Nadal should get used to being the top two seeds at big events–just as they are for this week’s Rogers Cup.

While it may not be easy to forecast the respective form of Federer and Nadal for their first hard-court tournament after Wimbledon, it is even more difficult to see who will stand in their way them at this Montreal-based Masters 1000. Third-seeded Dominic Thiem has been stellar in 2017, but he has done most of his damage on red clay and he bowed out early at the Citi Open to Kevin Anderson. No. 4 seed Alexander Zverev is heading straight for the World Tour Finals if London if he maintains his current form, but he is making a quick turnaround in Montreal following a final appearance in Washington, D.C. (versus Kevin Anderson on Sunday). Milos Raonic, Kei Nishikori, Juan Martin Del Potro, Grigor Dimitrov, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga have been less than their best of late. Jack Sock, David Goffin, Nick Kyrgios, and Pablo Carreno Busta have been plagued by injuries.

Still, no trek to a Masters 1000 final is ever a cakewalk on paper.

Nadal has an especially taxing road. The reigning French Open champion, who will regain the No. 1 ranking if he reaches he semifinals, could collide with the winner of an opening showdown between Del Potro and John Isner as early as the third round. He may meet he massive serve of Raonic in the quarterfinals and potentially either Zverev or former champion Tsonga (2014) in the semis.

Federer, on the other hand, is sitting pretty at the bottom of the bracket. The 35-year-old Swiss will begin his campaign against a Canadian wild card (Vasek Pospisil or Peter Polansky) and none of the seeds in his quarter (Nishikori, Sock, and Roberto Bautista Agut) look like any kind of threat at the moment.

Quarterfinal matchups if the seeds hold are Nadal vs. Raonic, Zverev vs. Tsonga, Thiem vs. Dimitrov, and Federer vs. Nishikori.

In addition to Del Potro vs. Isner, opening-round matches to watch include Kyrgios vs. Viktor Troicki, Carreno Busta vs. Karen Khachanov, Feliciano Lopez vs. Hyeon Chung, Benoit Paire vs. Donald Young, Sam Querrey vs. Gilles Muller, and Gael Monfils vs. Steve Johnson.