Winning in 2008 is Rafael Nadal’s favourite Rogers Cup title because it put him atop the ATP Tour’s world rankings for the first time ever. He’s the top men’s player in the world again and was on hand as the singles brackets for the Rogers Cup were filled out on Friday afternoon.

Rafa also said he “can’t think about” potential Rogers Cup opponents Stan Wawrinka or Nick Kyrgios before his second-round opener in Toronto.

The world No 1 will face either Jared Donaldson or Benoit Paire in his opening round on Wednesday night.

I cannot think about Wawrinka, Kyrgios, Joao (Sousa) before playing Benoit or a qualifier. I know the first round is going to be a tough battle. But watching the full draw doesn’t distract me from being focused on that first round.

I like to see the confrontations that are in the first round. There are a couple of very interesting ones in my opinion, and that’s it. I always take it match by match, that’s what I’ve done all my life. That’s the only way, in my opinion, to have success. You need to respect all the days, all the opponents. In tennis, things change so quickly, so you need to be ready to accept both victories and losses.

“It was a great feeling, playing Shapovalov. Not at the end,” said Rafa, who lost in three sets, to laughs. “It was a tough loss for me in that moment because it was a chance to become a world No. 1 again. Losing that match, I missed out on that chance.”

Sources: ATP World Tour, Canadian Press