Rogers Cup: Men’s Singles Preview

The tournament scheduled for the last week of July on this year’s ATP World Tour is the Rogers Cup. Being a prestigious Masters 1000 Event, it is of great importance on the Men’s Tour, and we at Essentially Sports preview the event in this article.

1) Withdrawals

The timing of this year’s Rogers Cup has been rather unfortunate. Scheduled right before the Olympic Games, it has caused a number of players to withdraw in preparation for the latter event. 8 of the Top 20 players in the world have withdrawn from the event. Wimbledon Champion Andy Murray will miss his title defence and World No.3 Roger Federer has also chosen to skip the event. But while the crowd will definitely miss them, the likes of Djokovic, Wawrinka and home favorite Raonic should certainly cheer them up.

2) Djokovic’s Agenda

World No.1 Novak Djokovic is the clear favorite to win the tournament. Playing his first tournament since a shocking 3 round exit at Wimbledon, Djokovic will look to get back on track by eyeing the Rogers Cup as a preparation event for the Olympics. While others have chosen to withdraw, Djokovic can see this as a warm-up to his goal of winning the Olympics Gold. After capping an already splendid season, he will look to gain some more ranking points, and continue his established dominance at the top. A strong performance here would mean sending a message to the rest of the tour.

3) Draw Analysis

The top half of the draw pits Novak Djokovic and Milos Raonic in the same half. Czech Republic 5 seed Tomas Berdych is in Djokovic’s quarter and could face a tricky 2 round matchup against rising youngster Borna Coric. Raonic on the other hand could face Belgian David Goffin in the quarterfinals. The two had met in the 4 round of Wimbledon, in which Raonic battled past Goffin in a tight five setter.

From the bottom half of the draw, we expect a rematch of the 2014 US Open Final between 3 seed Kei Nishikori and 8 seed Marin Cilic. Their most recent encounter saw Nishikori retire in the 4 round of Wimbledon due to an injury. Stan Wawrinka faces a potential quarterfinal against World No.9 Dominic Thiem. While Thiem has beaten Wawrinka in the past, their most recent battle was won by Wawrinka.

4) Dark Horses

a) Gael Monfils

Commonly known as the ‘Entertainer of Tennis’, Monfils will be entering the tournament on the back of a title winning run at the Citi Open in Washington. He has been absolutely relentless in the past week, displaying some mind boggling tennis. Capable of producing upsets every now and then, we expect Monfils to sizzle and dig deep at Toronto.

b) Alexander Zverev

The German is just 19 years of age and has been making an impact on the tour. With a powerful serve, and some wonderful ground-strokes, he is all set to thrive in the Men’s Tour. He’s had a wonderful year, reaching two finals. His most remarkable achievement was when he defeated World No.3 Roger Federer in the semifinal’s of the Gerry Weber Open at Halle. He’ll certainly be up for the task asked of him and we expect him to keep improving with every match he plays.

All in all, the road to the semifinals seems to be easy for Djokovic and Wawrinka, the top two seeds. Although a tournament with reduced competition this time around, the expectations are no less.