Top-seeded Novak Djokovic, Swiss Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka will take court in the third round of the Rogers Cup today. Wawrinka will face Kevin Anderson, Djokovic will lock horns with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Federer will be up against Marin Cilic.
The reigning Australian Open champions Wawrinka was made to work hard in his first match by Frenchman Benoit Paire. Wawrinka rallied back after losing the opening set and saved a match point to clinch the encounter.
It was a tough contest for the Swiss, who was playing his first match since losing in the Wimbledon. Wawrinka needs to get his act together against big-server Anderson, despite having a better 3-1 head-to-head record over the South African.
The top-seed Djokovic also faced stiff resistance from Frenchman Monfils and entered the third round with a hard-earned three set victory. Djokovic made a flying start and won the opening set quite comfortably, but the Frenchman evened the match by winning the second.
Djokovic is aiming to become third player after Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer to have won 20 Masters titles and the Serbian, after his marathon match against Monfils, insisted that he got good preparations by playing a tough match early in the hard-court season.
"In a way it was fun, of course, and entertaining to be part of this match," said Djokovic. "I enjoyed it. I tried to take the positives from this long match, and those are obviously the fact that I stayed over two-and-a-half hours on the court and I have not played an official hard court match since the Miami final. That helps obviously to play a little bit more, to feel the court, to feel the conditions."
Djokovic will play another Frenchman in the third round and the Wimbledon champion insisted that he is looking forward to face Tsonga. The Serb has recently defeated Tsonga in both French Open and Wimbledon pre-quarterfinals.
"My next opponent has a very similar game, power game like Gael's," Djokovic said. "I'm not feeling tired, I'm not exhausted, I haven't played a tournament for four weeks. I of course look forward to compete more."
Meanwhile, Federer whistled past Peter Polansky in straight sets to book his third round clash with Croat Cilic. The Swiss Maestro was pleased with his performance and insisted that he is preparing well for the US Open.
"I was happy, I started well, and that's always helpful to play more freely," Federer said. "I could have served better at times, but I felt I was moving well. For the start of a tournament it's never clear if that's going to be the case."
Schedule of Play: Third Round
Stanislas Wawrinka vs Kevin Anderson starts 8:30 pm IST
Novak Djokovic vs Jo-Wilfried Tsonga starts 10:30 pm IST
Roger Federer vs Marin Cilic starts 6:00 am IST
Where to Watch Live
The day's action is scheduled for an 8:30 pm IST (11:00 am ET, 4:00 pm BST and 3:00 pm GMT) start with live coverage on Star Sports in India and live streaming option HERE. Rogers Cup will also be streamed live HERE and HERE or catch the live updates HERE.
Sportsnet will telecast the matches live in Canada with live streaming option HERE or listen to the action live online HERE. ESPN 2 will telecast the matches live in the United States with an online streaming option HERE. In South Africa and sub-Sahara region the tournament will be available live on Super Sport with live online viewing option HERE.
