On a day when top seeds continued to tumble at the Rogers Cup presented by National Bank, men’s no. 1 Novak Djokovic managed to advance by defeating Marin Cilic (7-5, 6-2). Now that Switzerland’s Roger Federer was knocked out of the tournament, Djokovic is the man to beat in the top half of the draw. Federer fought hard in his match against France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga but ran out of gas and lost the match (7-6, 4-6, 6-1). With eight players left in the men’s pool, this weekend promises to be very exciting.
Kazakhstan's Galina Voskoboeva VS Maria Sharpova (Image Via Central Image Agency Inc.)
Over in Toronto, Thursday was certainly a day for upsets. Just one day after the tournament’s no. 1 and no. 2 seeds were eliminated, no. 3 seed Vera Zvonareva of Russia lost to no. 12 seed Agnieszka Radwanska; while Maria Sharapova, Li Na and Petra Kvitova were also all knocked out of the tournament. Despite so many big names being eliminated on Thursday, 13-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams advanced after beating China’s Jie Zheng (4-6, 6-3, 6-3). Injuries have plagued Williams most of the season, but she seems to be playing with a renewed passion and will be very interesting to watch down the road. Williams will play Lucie Safarova on Friday night for a spot in the semi-finals.
Friday also marks the start of the Rogers Legends Cup, which will feature Michael Chang on Jim Courier in its opening match. For more information and extensive recaps of the Rogers Cup, check out the official Rogers Cup site.
Top image: Novak Djokovic in his match versus Marin Cilic at the 2011 Rogers Cup in Montreal. (Image Via Vincenzo D’Alto/Central Image Agency)
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