Stanislas Wawrinka battles past Mikhail Youzhny in Toronto
ByReuters
Updated 27/07/2016 at 08:12 GMT
Stan Wawrinka survived a thriller against Mikhail Youzhny in the second round of the Rogers Cup on Tuesday, fighting back in both sets to prevail 7-6(3) 7-6(8).
Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland reacts after winning the first set against Mikhail Youzhny of Russia on day two of the Rogers Cup tennis tournament.
Image credit: Eurosport
The Swiss second seed trailed 5-4 in the first set and had to break Youzhny's serve to force a tiebreak.
He then fell behind 3-0 in the second before launching a comeback that saw him fight through set point in a heated tiebreak and ultimately pull through to close out the match.
Wawrinka, who had failed to advance past the second round in his last two tournaments, now has a third-round matchup with American Donald Young.
Earlier in the day, Gael Monfils, fresh off his tournament win in Washington, cruised by Portugal's Joao Sousa 6-3 6-3 to ease into the second round.
The 10th seeded Frenchman won 50 percent of his return points against Sousa and hammered down eight aces to extend his win streak to six matches.
"I think I've put in good work with my team. What I try to do is keep working with them and then see the results later," said Monfils, two days after his first tournament win in two-and-a-half years.
"I like to think when I'm in my top game and with consistency, I can beat a lot of players at the top."
Czech fifth seed Tomas Berdych, playing his first match since losing in the Wimbledon semi-final to eventual champion Andy Murray, secured his spot in the third round with a 4-6 6-1 6-4 win over Croatia's Borna Coric.
Top seed Djokovic, the only member of the "Big Four" in Toronto, will play his first singles match since Wimbledon when he takes on Luxembourg's Gilles Muller on Wednesday.
Results from the Toronto Masters Men's Singles matches on Tuesday Round 2
2-Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland) beat Mikhail Youzhny (Russia) 7-6(3) 7-6(8)
5-Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) beat Borna Coric (Croatia) 4-6 6-1 6-4
Round 1
Vasek Pospisil (Canada) beat Jeremy Chardy (France) 7-6(3) 0-0 (Chardy retired)
Fabio Fognini (Italy) beat 15-Steve Johnson (U.S.) 6-4 6-4
Donald Young (U.S.) beat Alexandr Dolgopolov (Ukraine) 7-6(6) 6-4
13-Lucas Pouille (France) beat Emilio Gomez (Ecuador) 6-7(8) 6-4 7-5
10-Gael Monfils (France) beat Joao Sousa (Portugal) 6-3 6-3
Rajeev Ram (U.S.) beat Ernests Gulbis (Latvia) 6-4 6-2
Lu Yen-Hsun (Taiwan) beat Alexander Zverev (Germany) 7-5 6-3
Radek Stepanek (Czech Republic) beat 14-Benoit Paire (France) 6-1 6-3
Jared Donaldson (U.S.) beat John Millman (Australia) 6-4 4-3 (Millman retired)
Dennis Novikov (U.S.) beat Federico Delbonis (Argentina) 6-4 6-3
Ivo Karlovic (Croatia) beat Taylor Fritz (U.S.) 6-7(9) 7-6(5) 6-2
Scan me
Related Topics
Share this article
Advertisement
Advertisement