“We played so many times, he’s one of the few players I’ve played at least 30 times against”, said Djokovic. “For me, I really need to stay very strong in my serve and hope I can always catch him and give him some pressure”.
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Monfils and Raonic had solid back-and-forths through both sets, with both using big serves to pin each other to the baseline.
Raonic finished the 70-minute clinic with 15 aces, while also displaying a deft touch around the net and a humdinger of a forehand, showcased in particular when he fired a huge victor down the line to make it 3-0.
Yen-Hsun Lu in action in the first round at the 2016 Rogers Cup.
“I’m taking care of my own things, creating some opportunities”.
Lu says he’ll have to stop Raonic’s weapon – his serve – if he’s going to be successful on center court against the world No. 7.
Raonic opened the match with a 235-kilometre per hour serve that his opponent could only block with his racket before the ball ricocheted out of play. Monfils has now won 16 of his last 19 sets and is fresh off a title in the Washington Open.
For Donaldson, the young American ranked 147, it was the first time he was playing in the third round of a Masters 1000-level tournament – and it showed as he, understandably, struggled to handle the speed of Raonic’s serve from the get go. “And then to have familiar faces, to have that kind of connection and positive attitude that will carry here through Davis Cup weeks, as well, is definitely a big plus”. “That’s more or less where I have been the past two years now”. Nishikori leads the pair’s head-to-head 2-0 but they have not met in over two years. I think I’m a guy always pumped up.
That last Rogers Cup final was in Montreal. But, you know, against Monfils is different. “I start really well the first game”, said Wawrinka.
In other third-round matches, second-seeded Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland beat 16th-seeded Jack Sock of the United States 7-6 (3), 6-2; third-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan topped Rajeev Ram of the United States, 6-3, 6-4; South Africa’s Kevin Anderson edged 12th-seeded Bernard Tomic of Australia 4-6, 6-3, 6-4; and Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov beat Croatia’s Ivo Karlovic 6-3, 7-5.
Monfils has now won eight matches in a row, but he’ll be facing a stiff challenge on Friday when he faces fourth-seeded Milos Raonic.
“Credit to Radek for playing a couple of nice shots (in the final game of the match)”, Djokovic said.
“He’s one of the best players right now”, Lu said. A series of three consecutive unforced errors by Muller helped Djokovic regain control and eventually winning a break point.
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Sock and Kyrgios chose to retire from the match, so the Canadians advanced.
