Wednesday’s action at ATP Toronto 2012 saw several seeded players fall. The biggest casualties were France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro. Tsonga, who was busy at the Olympics in both singles and doubles, fell to Jeremy Chardy while del Potro, a bronze medalist in singles in London, fell to Radek Stepanek.
The ‘upsets’ might be considered huge by some, however, in context I don’t think they are that significant precisely because Delpo and Tsonga were so active last week. In fact I hinted at the forthcoming upsets when I wrote the following August 4th:
“You have to wonder if there are some early round exits coming for high seeds. Djokovic, del Potro, and Murray all made medal matches at the Olympics. Additionally Tsonga has to be tired following his silver medal run in the doubles draw with Michael Llodra.”
Novak Djokovic had no troubles with Bernard Tomic in the first round while Andy Murray breezed by qualifier Flavio Cipolla. Djokovic now has what promises to be a tough match against Sam Querrey coming up, a player who I think will be returning to the Top 25 by the end of the US Open. Murray also has a tough match in the third round as he faces Canada’s top player in Milos Raonic.
Raonic, currently ranked 24th, will be playing in the Canadian Masters for the first time since becoming a significant player on tour. He does have two previous main draw appearances at the event but both of those appearances were at times when he was ranked outside of the Top 200, if not the Top 600.
The match against Murray is huge, one that could increase tennis interest in Canada substantially. Murray was in the Wimbledon final last month and he won Olympic gold: if Raonic can scalp him then the casual Canadian tennis fan might pay a little bit more attention to the sport in the future. Maybe the Vancouver challenger will even get upgraded to the 250 level, something that I think is warranted.
Canada has not had many notable players competing at the Canadian Masters over the years, at least not in singles. Daniel Nestor has enjoyed a respectable career but his major achievements are in doubles.
His singles career is ancient history and he never cracked the Top 25. As far as success went in tournaments played in Canada, all I remember off the top of my head is a victory over Thomas Muster in Toronto in 1996 and a win over Stefan Edberg in 1992 in Davis Cup play.
Greg Rusedski, a one-time US Open finalist, had the potential to make tennis a bigger sport than it is in Canada however the Montreal born player represented the United Kingdom for the bulk of his career with varying degrees of acceptance among the British public. "Grant Connell", the best tennis player in the world from Regina, isn't a name that will ring many bells and neither is "Sebastien Lareau".
Canadian tennis depends on Milos right now.
Raonic and Murray played one another earlier this year at ATP Barcelona. Raonic was good for the upset that day on clay, a surface where you would think that Murray, a former French Open semifinalist, would actually be heavily favored.
Not only does Raonic enter his third round match in Toronto with home support but he should be better rested. Murray played a lot of tennis in London and while his level of play is high right now, he could be upset prone without a full week off between the Olympics and Toronto.
All things considered however I do not think that Murray will show signs of fatigue in the third round. I think he’s far too well conditioned for that and he’s still just 25 years old. This match, the late singles match on Stadium court (not before 7pm ET), promises to be a competitive one but Murray has won the Canadian Masters twice. I think the Scot will make Raonic wait a little bit longer before he really puts Canadian tennis on the map.
Prediction: Murray, straight up.