The draw for Montreal was performed on Friday afternoon. After a first round bye, Rafael Nadal will play the winner of a match between a qualifier and Borna Coric. He could face John Isner in the third round, prior to a quarter-final against Milos Raonic.
Rafa’s potential route to the final:
- First round: Bye
- Second round: Borna Coric
- Third round: John Isner or Juan Martin del Potro
- Quarter-final: Milos Raonic
- Semi-final: Alexander Zverev
- Final: Roger Federer
If the men play to seed the quarter-final line up will be:
- Rafael Nadal vs. Milos Raonic
- Alexander Zverev vs. Milos Raonic
- Dominic Thiem vs. Grigor Dimitrov
- Roger Federer vs Kei Nishikori
Rafa has won the Canadian title three times, most recently at Coupe Rogers in 2013.
Our champ needs to reach the semi-finals to return to the top spot in the ATP Rankings. Our champ was last No. 1 in June 2014. He has spent a total of 141 weeks at No. 1.
Good luck Rafa! VAMOS!!
Hi Rainier,
Although Rafa is my absolute favorite, I am an equal opportunity fan. I love when other players win titles as well. For instance, it was great to see Kohlschreiber, Sasha, Sam, Ferrer, Feli Lopez and others win titles this season. They all work so hard and are fun to watch. Theres’ room for everybody! (That’s also why I loved Rafa’s birthday greeting to Roger about stop winning and give something to the younger ones!) I got a kick out of that comment as Margo did! Don’t even know if that’s in Roger’s DNA. Oh well!
I just want to see a fair fight among the very top players with regard to the scheduling, best court assignments and draws though I understand draws are random. When a top player gets an easy draw it’s like giving a super-fast runner a mile headstart ahead of everyone else. And I agree Roger’s MTO’s are about gamemanship not actual injury which is unfortunate but what can you do!
Regarding the media, I just take them with a grain of salt. They often have top players dead to rights (no matter what the sport) when they are declining due to injury or lack of confidence. Then when those athletes forge great come-backs the media just look and sound ridiculous. Even when they constantly put Roger on a pedastal, who cares. What I love about Rafa he is so down to earth and respectful of all his opponents. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the rest of the tournament. Remember there’s another one next week. Cheers!