TENNIS – Gael Monfils cruised past Fabio Fognini by 6-3 6-1 in one hour and three minutes in the first round of the Rogers Cup in Montreal. Monfils converted on four of his five break point chances and fended off all the six break points he faced. Diego Sampaolo
Monfils and Fognini had tied 3-3 in their previous head-to-head matches but the Italian won their previous clash on hard-court at Indian Wells in 2014.
Monfils will face Gilles Muller from Luxemburg who beat Canadian wild card Philip Bester 6-2 6-3 with 13 aces.
The match started with a delay of 30 minutes due to rain. Monfils was the first to braak serve in the third game of the opening set at 1-1 as Fognini committed two double faults and six unforced errors. Monfils went down 0-40 in the next game but he managed to save four break points to hold his serve. Fognini earned just one more break point in the rest of the first set which Monfils saved.
At 0-1 Fognini went up 30-0 but he committed two double faults and four unforced errors and dropped his serve. Monfils reeled off 14 of the next 15 points cruising to 6-1.
“I am looking forward to that match because I have known him for a long time. I know he is a good player. He plays well. He is very aggressive and has a good serve”, said Monfils of his his next opponent Muller
In another French-Italian clash Gilles Simon converted on his two break points and hit 13 winners in his 6-2 6-4 win against Andreas Seppi. Simon will face either Mikhail Youzhny or Viktor Troicki.
Spaniard Tommy Robredo beat Feliciano Lopez for the fifth time in five head-to-head matches with 6-3 3-6 6-3. Lopez dropped his serve with a double fault in the first game. He earned one break point in the third game and four in the fifth game but Robredo saved them and cliched the first set with 6-4. Lopez dropped his serve in the first game of the second set but he managed to break back in the 10th game to win the second set with set with 6-3. Robredo clinched the third set with 6-3 to set up a second round match against Andy Murray
Sam Querrey fended off all the break points he faced in his 6-3 6-3 win over Martin Klizan setting up a second round against either David Goffin or Steve Johnson
Thomas Bellucci battled past Pablo Cuevas 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 7-6 (7-4) to set up a second round match against World Number 1 Novak Djokovic
Bernard Tomic beat Joao Sousa 6-3 6-3. The Australian player, who won the Bogotà ATP 250 title two weeks ago but lost in the first round against Steve Johnson, dominated the match in which he faced only a break point. Tomic will face Marin Cilic in the second round.
Ivo Karlovic hit 18 aces to beat Jerzy Janowicz 6-4 7-6 (8-6) setting up a second round against 2013 Rogers Cup finalist Milos Raonic. Big server Karlovic won the first set with 6-4 with 94 percent of his first serve points. The first set went on serve until 3-3 when Karlovic broke serve. The second set came down to the tie-break without breaks of serve. The breaker featured a series of mini-breaks. Karlovic saved four match points but he committed a double fault at 6-6.
Leandro Mayer beat South Korea’s 2013 Wimbledon Junior tournament finalist Hyeon Chung 6-3 6-4. Mayer saved three of the four break points he faced in the first set. Chung dropped his serve twice. Mayer got the decisive break at 4-3 before saving two break points en route to winning the first set with 6-3. The second set went on serve until 3-3 but Chung dropped his serve on the only break point he faced. Mayer served for the match and closed out with 6-4 in one hour and 22 minutes. He will face the winner of the French derby between Richard Gasquet and Jeremy Chardy.
Jo Wilfred Tsonga beat Borna Coric 6-4 6-4.
