STARNBERG, August 5, 2019
The Coupe Rogers in Montreal is the first of back-to-back summer North American hard-court ATP Masters 1000 events. The Western & Southern Open will be held the following week in Cincinnati.
Top seed Rafael Nadal is the defending champion and will be going for his fifth Canadian Masters 1000 crown (2005, ’08, ’13, ’18). German Alexander Zverev, the third seed, is looking to win his second Montreal title, after beating Roger Federer for the 2017 crown. And Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, a wild card this year, will try to turn back the clock and recreate his 2014 run in Canada.
They will be joined in the field by World No. 4 and BNP Paribas Open champion Dominic Thiem, along with 2018 finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas and fifth seed Kei Nishikori.
World No. 2 Nadal will face the winner of the match between Alex DeMinaur and a qualifier in the second round. He is also in the same quarter of the draw as No. 7 seed Fabio Fognini of Italy, No. 11 seed Borna Coric from Croatia and 15th favourite David Goffin of Belgium. A star-studded first-round match that fans will not want to miss is between three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland and Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov. Two former Top 5 players, both are looking to make a statement in their returns to the top.
The line-up also includes a strong contingent of local players. Several storylines promise to be quite interesting, notably the all-Canadian first round battle between Félix Auger-Aliassime and Vasek Pospisil. This will be the third meeting between the compatriots, with the most recent encounter coming a few weeks ago at Wimbledon. While Pospisil will be competing at the Rogers Cup in Montreal for the sixth time, it will Auger-Aliassime’s first time playing in his home tournament.
Denis Shapovalov will also have a tough first round match, as he is set to take on Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert. The two have only met once in their careers, with Herbert getting the better of Shapovalov earlier this year at a tournament in Montpellier, France. The young Canadian, who made a splash on the international tennis scene in Montreal two years ago, could potentially face Thiem in the second round and is in the same quarter of the draw as the No. 8 seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia.
The No. 1 Canadian player Milos Raonic will face US-American #NextGenATP competitor Taylor Fritz. This will be the first meeting between the two. Raonic’s best result in Montreal came when he reached the final in 2013, finishing runner-up to Rafael Nadal. The Ontario native could potentially face Tsitsipas in the second round and a qualifier in the following round.
Other Canadian first round match-ups include Peter Polansky who will have to face the eccentric Frenchman Gaël Monfils. Polansky’s best result at the Rogers Cup came in 2017 when he reached the second round. Wild Card Brayden Schnur, who will be taking on a qualifier in the first round, could face Fognini in the second round.
Tickets are on sale online at www.couperogers.com for the Montreal tournament.
