Djokovic, Sharapova Advance to 2nd Round at Rogers Cup
TORONTO (Dispatches) — Novak Djokovic has advanced to the second round with a 6-3, 7-6 (7) win over lucky loser Mirza Basic at the Rogers Cup.
The four-time champion Djokovic, the ninth seed in Toronto, took care of his serve in the win over his Bosnian opponent. Djokovic had nine aces and was good on 76 percent of his first serves, converting 76 percent of his first service points and 79 percent of his second service points.
He had some trouble late in the second set, losing his serve to set up the tiebreak, before rallying.
The Serbian star, who last won the Rogers Cup in 2016 and is coming off a win at Wimbledon this year, will next face wild-card Peter Polansky of Canada.
In another match, former world No. 3 Stan Wawrinka, a three-time Grand Slam champion, beat 16th-seed Nick Kyrgios 1-6, 7-5, 7-5.
Kyrgios, from Australia, broke Wawrinka twice in the first-round match and had seven aces in a dominant first set. Wawrinka battled back, converting on 86 percent of his first service points to take the second set. He broke Kyrgios in the final game of the third set, converting his second match point opportunity when the Australian couldn't handle his return.
In other matches, Robin Haase of the Netherlands downed Japan's Kei Nishikori 7-5, 6-1.
Americans Sam Querrey, Frances Tiafoe and Ryan Harrison joined Russia's Karen Khachanov and Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas as other first-round winners. Tiafoe will face Canada's Milos Raonic in the second round.
Denis Shapovalov of Canada played his first-round match against France's Jeremy Chardy later Tuesday.
Canadian wild card Felix Auger-Aliassime upset Lucas Pouille of France 6-4, 6-3, cruising into the second round in his main draw debut at the Masters 1000 tournament.
Over at the courts in Montreal, Maria Sharapova advanced to the second round of the Rogers Cup with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over qualifier Sesil Karatantcheva of Bulgaria.
Play resumed under the afternoon sun with Sharapova leading 4-1 in the first set after heavy rain and lightning forced organizers to suspend the match.
Sharapova, making her first Rogers Cup appearance since 2014, picked up where she left off Monday. She won six straight games after the restart and needed only 36 minutes to win the second set.
The 31-year-old had three aces and only committed two double faults to her opponent's 11.
The Russian is 5-0 all time against the 229th-ranked Karatantcheva, who was playing in her first WTA main draw in more than a year.
Sharapova, ranked 22nd in the world, will face Daria Kasatkina of Russia (No. 12) or Maria Sakkari of Greece (No. 31) in the second round.
In another match, Canada's Eugenie Bouchard is out after a 6-2, 6-4 first-round loss to Elise Mertens of Belgium. The 15th-ranked Mertens, who is making her Rogers Cup debut, will now face either Shuai Zhang of China (No. 32) or qualifier Barbora Krejcikova (No. 232) of the Czech Republic in the second round.
***** Novak Djokovic of Serbia serves to Mirza Basic (not in frame) of Bosnia during the Rogers Cup men's tennis tournament in Toronto, Aug 7, 2018.
The four-time champion Djokovic, the ninth seed in Toronto, took care of his serve in the win over his Bosnian opponent. Djokovic had nine aces and was good on 76 percent of his first serves, converting 76 percent of his first service points and 79 percent of his second service points.
He had some trouble late in the second set, losing his serve to set up the tiebreak, before rallying.
The Serbian star, who last won the Rogers Cup in 2016 and is coming off a win at Wimbledon this year, will next face wild-card Peter Polansky of Canada.
In another match, former world No. 3 Stan Wawrinka, a three-time Grand Slam champion, beat 16th-seed Nick Kyrgios 1-6, 7-5, 7-5.
Kyrgios, from Australia, broke Wawrinka twice in the first-round match and had seven aces in a dominant first set. Wawrinka battled back, converting on 86 percent of his first service points to take the second set. He broke Kyrgios in the final game of the third set, converting his second match point opportunity when the Australian couldn't handle his return.
In other matches, Robin Haase of the Netherlands downed Japan's Kei Nishikori 7-5, 6-1.
Americans Sam Querrey, Frances Tiafoe and Ryan Harrison joined Russia's Karen Khachanov and Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas as other first-round winners. Tiafoe will face Canada's Milos Raonic in the second round.
Denis Shapovalov of Canada played his first-round match against France's Jeremy Chardy later Tuesday.
Canadian wild card Felix Auger-Aliassime upset Lucas Pouille of France 6-4, 6-3, cruising into the second round in his main draw debut at the Masters 1000 tournament.
Over at the courts in Montreal, Maria Sharapova advanced to the second round of the Rogers Cup with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over qualifier Sesil Karatantcheva of Bulgaria.
Play resumed under the afternoon sun with Sharapova leading 4-1 in the first set after heavy rain and lightning forced organizers to suspend the match.
Sharapova, making her first Rogers Cup appearance since 2014, picked up where she left off Monday. She won six straight games after the restart and needed only 36 minutes to win the second set.
The 31-year-old had three aces and only committed two double faults to her opponent's 11.
The Russian is 5-0 all time against the 229th-ranked Karatantcheva, who was playing in her first WTA main draw in more than a year.
Sharapova, ranked 22nd in the world, will face Daria Kasatkina of Russia (No. 12) or Maria Sakkari of Greece (No. 31) in the second round.
In another match, Canada's Eugenie Bouchard is out after a 6-2, 6-4 first-round loss to Elise Mertens of Belgium. The 15th-ranked Mertens, who is making her Rogers Cup debut, will now face either Shuai Zhang of China (No. 32) or qualifier Barbora Krejcikova (No. 232) of the Czech Republic in the second round.
***** Novak Djokovic of Serbia serves to Mirza Basic (not in frame) of Bosnia during the Rogers Cup men's tennis tournament in Toronto, Aug 7, 2018.