Roberto Bautista is the only Spanish tennis player who survives in the main draw of the 1,000 Masters in Canada after his victory in the second round against the American Tommy Paul by 6-3 and 6-4 after one hour and 20 minutes of the game. In this way, the tennis player from Castellón manages to advance to the round of 16 in the first of the great tournaments of the North American tour.
The match did not start well for Bautista, who lost his serve in the first game although the Spaniard managed to turn the situation around by breaking Paul's serve twice in a row to go 4-1 in favor. However, a new break by the American again tightened the result although Bautista again added another new break that allowed him to close the first set with his serve 6-3.
In the second round, both Bautista and Paul were more solid in service until, In the fifth game, Bautista managed to break the American's serve and not fail with his service during the rest of the set to close the sleeve and the match with the first match ball that he had 6-4. Now, in the round of 16 Bautista a demanding test against Argentine Diego Schwartzman, tenth favorite, who also continues ahead in the tournament after defeating Frenchman Benoit Paire (7-5, 6-1) in straight sets.
Feliciano fails to honor Nadal as a lucky loser
Feliciano lopez could not honor the figure of Rafael Nadal after occupying his position as lucky loser in the final draw of the 1,000 Masters of Canada due to the loss caused by the Balearic Islands. The Toledo fell to the South African Lloyd Harris, Nadal's own executioner a week ago in the ATP 500 in Washington, and he definitely said goodbye to Toronto after being re-caught (he was eliminated in the previous phase) by the injury of the manacorense in the left foot: 6-2 and 6-3 in 65 minutes of play.
Harris was in charge from the beginning that the game against 'Feli' had little history. In the duel of servers that the meeting raised, The South African tipped the balance in his favor with numbers that were impossible to counter: 84% of points won with first serve, 11 aces and full effectiveness on breaking balls saved (3/3). Thus, in the absence of Nadal and subsequent elimination of Feliciano, there is only Roberto Bautista as the only Spanish representative (Davidovich also lost in the first round).
Rublev survives in a day of surprises
Andrey Rublev, fourth seed in Toronto, signed a great victory against Fabio Fognini by a score of 7-6 (4) and 6-3. In the round of 16 he will face John Isner, that gave an account of a Christian Garín (4-6, 6-3 and 6-4) who still finds it difficult to shine on surfaces other than clay. They were one of the few favorites who met expectations on a day that was full of surprises. The most representative carried the stamp of the American Frances Tiafoe, who entered the final draw as a 'lucky loser' after falling in the previous one and who ended up overwhelming local idol Denis Shapovalov, fifth favorite, in two sets by a resounding 6-1 and 6-4.
Another of the great surprises of the day was starred by the Australian James duckworth (85º), that left out a Jannik Sinner (6-3 and 6-4) who came from lifting the title last week in Washington. They also said goodbye Auger-Aliassime (at the hands of Lajovic) and From Miñaur (deleted by Basilashvili). For his part, Hubert Hurkacz advanced due to the resignation of Nishikori and Gael Monfils went to the second round after coming back against John Millman (3-6, 6-3 and 6-4).
Results of the day at the 1,000 Masters in Canada.