In Montreal, the schedule will include Wimbledon Champion Angelique Kerber in her first match since her third Major title. World Number One Simona Halep and Number Two Caroline Wozniacki will also make their returns to action. In a Wimbledon rematch, Karolina Pliskova will try to avenge her fourth round loss to Kiki Bertens. And Maria Sharapova will face an entertaining fellow Russian who is 10 years her junior in Daria Kasatkina.
In Toronto, the Canadians will be on full display on Centre Court, with Denis Shapovalov, Milos Raonic, and 18-year-old birthday boy Felix Auger-Aliassime. The rest of the men’s schedule is anything but shabby, and features Nadal, Djokovic, Wawrinka, Del Potro, and Zverev.
Elina Svitolina vs. Mihaela Buzarnescu
This will be the third time these two meet in the past three months, and on a third different surface. But will the result differ? Buzarnescu has defeated Svitolina in straight sets in both of their previous matches, most notably at this year’s Roland Garros. Mihaela has been one of the best players on tour in 2018, as the 30-year-old is having a career-year. A year ago, she was ranked 139th in the world. Now Buzarnescu is inside the top 20 for the first time, thanks to already notching 39 match wins this year. Just last week, she won her first-ever WTA title in San Jose. Svitolina is the defending champion at the Rogers Cup, and has three titles in 2018. However, she’s had a rough go of it since defending her title in Rome: she’s just 4-3 in her last three events. All the momentum is on Buzarnescu’s side, and the pressure to defend 900 ranking points is on Svitolina. It’s not often the number five player in the world is considered an underdog in their opening match of a tournament, but that just may be the case here.
Fabio Fognini vs. Denis Shapovalov
Can Shapovalov repeat his magical run from last year’s Rogers Cup? He got off to a strong start on Tuesday with a straightforward win over Jeremy Chardy. But on Wednesday, he’ll face one of the hottest players on tour. Fognini already has three titles this year, two of which came in the past three weeks. Fabio prevailed on the clay of Bastad, and then just last week upset Del Potro to win the title in Los Cabos on a hard court. When Fabio is on, he’s capable of beating almost anyone, and he’s certainly playing with a lot of confidence right now. In their first career meeting, Shapovalov may need all the energy from the crowd he can get to take out the talented Italian. Unfortunately for Denis, this match is scheduled for the day session, and likely won’t have the same electric atmosphere as many of Shapovalov’s night matches from a year ago. That’s advantage Fognini.
