TORONTO/STARNBERG, August 8, 2023
Italians Matteo Berrettini and Lorenzo Musetti made a winning start at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers. Berrettini, who is making his second tournament appearance, beat Frenchman Gregoire Barrere 6-4, 6-3 in the first round of the ATP Masters 1000 event on Monday.
The 27-year-old Rome native struck 10 aces and won 85 per cent of his first-service points to advance in one hour and 15 minutes. Berrettini will next take on his countryman Jannik Sinner.
Into R2! ✌️@MattBerrettini gets win no. 11 of his season in Toronto!#NBO23 pic.twitter.com/8hRc7VkRv6
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) August 7, 2023
Musetti, who is making his tournament debut, defeated Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan 6-4, 6-1. The 19-year-old from Carrara saved both break points he faced and converted three of his own five break-point chances to prevail after one hour and 31 minutes. Up next for Musetti will be Thanasi Kokkinakis of Australia.
Raonic knocks out Tiafoe
Later in the evening, former World No. 3 Milos Raonic of Canada secured a 6-7(12), 7-6(4), 6-3 upset of ninth seed Frances Tiafoe from the United States. The local wild card entry fired 37 aces and broke his rival two times to secure victory in two hours and 44 minutes.
MILOS’S MOMENT 🤩
Raonic is through to the second round in front of his home crowd!#NBO23 pic.twitter.com/tLfLs1h6Of
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) August 8, 2023
“Two years away, five years from playing in Toronto, a whole four years since I got to play in front of my parents, who were there for the majority of my matches as junior and a majority of my matches as a pro. All of these things came together for a great night for me and I’m incredible grateful for it,” Raonic said.
The National Bank Open Presented by Rogers on the men’s side returns to Toronto for the first time since 2021, when Daniil Medvedev won his fourth ATP Masters 1000 title by defeating Reilly Opelka. Medvedev is back as the No. 2 seed, having won 5 titles this season, including ATP Masters 1000 titles in Miami on hard courts and Rome on clay. This is the sixth ATP Masters 1000 tournament of the season.
