MONTREAL: World number one Novak Djokovic kicked off his bid for a fourth Canadian crown with a 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) second round win over a stubborn Thomaz Bellucci at the ATP Tour’s Rogers Cup on Tuesday.

Bellucci, with just one win in five visits to Canada and coming off a first-round loss at Washington, appeared to be the perfect opponent for Djokovic to launch his build-up to the US Open but provided a stiff test for the Serb.

“Match could have gone either way, honestly, especially in the second set,” Djokovic told reporters after battling Bellucci for an hour and 50 minutes. “I managed to stay cool and mentally tough in the right moment.”

Djokovic will now wait for a winner from American Jack Sock and 14th seed Grigor Dimitrov. Sock beat Adrian Mannarino 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (7-5) while Bulgarian Dimitrov, a semi-finalist last year, eliminated Ukrainian qualifier Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-4, 7-5.

For the second straight night, late action was suspended at the Rogers Cup. World number three Andy Murray had his match with Tommy Robredo postponed with the duel even at 4-4 in the first set.

Also in the second round, Ivo Karlovic beat eighth seed Milos Raonic 7-6 (7-1), 7-6 (7-1), after the Canadian saved three match points before losing for his earliest exit in Montreal since 2010. The winner’s 22 aces sent him past 10,000 for his career.

In the first round, holder Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the French 10th seed, opened his campaign with a defeat of Croatian teenager Borna Coric 6-4, 6-4 in a rain-interrupted match that began on Monday. Next up is Robergto Bautista, who ousted Janko Tipsarevic 6-3, 6-4.

Czech Lukas Rosol upset South African 12th seed Kevin Anderson 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-4) while Canada’s Vasek Pospisil, a semifinalist the last time the event was played in Montreal in 2013, got past Yen-Hsun Lu 6-4, 6-3.

Belgian 13th seed David Goffin beat American Steve Johnson 6-2, 6-2, leaving John Isner to carry the United States flag into the second round, the 16th seed blasting 23 aces past Germany’s Benjamin Becker in a 6-4, 6-7 (6-8), 6-3 win.

Australian Nick Kyrgios began his hard-court run with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 victory over Fernando Verdasco under the watchful eye of new mentor Lleyton Hewitt.

He advanced to a second-round meeting with third-seeded Stan Wawrinka, who he fell to in their only meeting earlier this year on a grass court.

SERENA RALLIES TO REACH THIRD ROUND

TORONTO: World number one Serena Williams rallied to advance to the third round of the WTA Tour’s Rogers Cup on Tuesday by defeating Italy’s Flavia Pennetta 2-6, 6-3, 6-0.

It was the 725th career match triumph for Serena, who withdrew from last week’s Stanford event with a right elbow injury but launched her US Open hard-court warm-up campaign successfully.

Serena could complete a calendar-year Grand Slam with a victory at the US Open, which begins August 31, and claim her 22nd career Grand Slam title, matching Steffi Graf’s Open Era record total.

Slumping Canadian star Eugenie Bouchard dropped out, falling 6-0, 5-7, 6-2 to Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic in a first-round match. Bouchard has also lost 13 of her past 15 matches.

In other first round upsets on Tuesday, France’s Alize Cornet dispatched ninth seeded Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro 6-3, 6-7 (2-7), 6-4 while Croatia qualifier Mirjana Lucic-Baroni disposed of Czech 10th seed Karolina Pliskova 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2.

American Alison Riske outlasted 12th seed Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-3) in a three-hour marathon.

Russian 11th seed Ekaterina Makarova was a 6-3, 6-3 winner over American Anna Tatishvili while 13th seed Angelique Kerber of Germany stormed into the second round with 6-1, 6-0 rout of Japanese qualifier Misaki Doi.

Two former world number ones Jelena Jankovic and Belarus’ Victoria Azarenka made smooth passage to the second round with straight sets wins.

Twice Australian Open champion Azarenka, who withdrew from an event in Washington with a sore shoulder, opened with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Ukraine’s Elina Svitova while Jankovic stopped Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia 7-6 (7-4), 6-2.

Published in Dawn, August 13th, 2015

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