THE second day of men’s National Bank Open action saw the completion of the Round of 64, while the Round of 32 action got underway in Toronto, Canada. Rafael Nadal also announced his withdrawal from the competition, citing soreness to the foot injury that kept him out of Wimbledon and the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. His spot has been taken by compatriot Feliciano Lopez, who joins the main draw as a lucky loser.

“I have had this issue for a couple of months, as people know,” Nadal said. “Of course, it is not a happy situation after all the success that I had here in Canada, not being able to play this year after missing a year. It’s a tough one, but that’s how it is today. I need to go back and try to find a way to be better again.

“At the end of the day, for me the most important thing is to enjoy playing tennis. Today, with this pain, I am not able to enjoy it, and I really don’t believe that I have the chance to fight for the things that I really need to fight for.”

In the Round of 64 proceedings, a couple of Americans made the winners list with both John Isner and lucky loser Frances Tiafoe starting the event on a high, both claiming straight sets wins as Isner disposed of Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-4 6-1 and fired off 19 aces in the process, while Tiafoe sent Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka packing, 6-4 6-3. However, in-form duo Mackenzie McDonald and Jenson Brooksby were not quite so lucky, falling to Benoit Paire and Nikoloz Basilashvili, respectively.

It was not all bad for Japan though, as Kei Nishikori continues to recapture his pre-injury form with a victory over Miomir Kecmanovic, 6-4 6-7(5) 6-2, while the Serbian’s compatriot Dusan Lajovic was much more fortunate in his own three setter, coming from behind to claim a 3-6 6-3 6-3 victory over Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori. The remaining win of the day went to Russian Karen Khachanov, who downed Brit Cameron Norrie 6-4 5-7 6-4 and is now set to take on fellow countryman Aslan Karatsev in the second round.

“I am happy to go through,” Nishikori said. “He played really well in the second set, it was really tough. I knew it was not going to be easy [for him] to play at that level throughout the second and third set, so I waited for him to drop his level a little bit. I just tried to stay focused.

“I am feeling pretty good. I think I am playing my best tennis of the year in the past couple of tournaments. I am happy with my result last week and I also did well at the Olympics.”

Looking to the second round matches, and the three top 10 seeds all were forced to weather the storm of intense opposition, taken to three sets apiece. Number one seed Daniil Medvedev made a winning return to the court but was made to work for it, with the Russian explaining that the rain delay early in the second set and announcement of Nadal’s withdrawal from the event helped him recover to claim a 4-6 6-3 6-4 victory over Alexander Bublik.

“[The rain delay] helped a lot,” Medvedev said in his on-court interview. “I don’t know if the conditions changed with the humidity, but I was not playing well before the rain. I had my opportunities. I was missing second-serve returns, missing balls. I knew I had to play better if I was to win.

“When back on the court, from the first game I felt much better. I only felt better and better during the match, he did not have one break point [after the rain]. I turned around the match completely. It is a tough draw, even without Rafael Nadal. It does open up the draw [though] for sure.”

Third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas overcame a mid-match challenge from Frenchman Ugo Humbert to post a 6-3 6-7(13) 6-1 win, firing on all cylinders throughout the third set after dropping the tight second set tiebreaker – which required 22 minutes to decide – to eventually claim the two hour and 34-minute victory. With 16 aces to his name, Tsitsipas exacted revenge over Humbert, who knocked him out of the Olympics Round of 16 just a few weeks ago, and extended his 2021 win count to 43. Sixth seed Casper Ruud also claimed a three set win, snatching back control despite a second set slump to take down Marin Cilic, 6-3 3-6 6-3 in just over two hours. 14th seed Grigor Dimitrov was upset by American Reilly Opelka, with the unseeded American claiming a 6-3 6-4 win.

NATIONAL BANK OPEN ROUND OF 64 RESULTS: 

Benoit Paire (FRA) defeated Mackenzie McDonald (USA) 6-3 6-4
Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO) defeated [WC] Jenson Brooksby (USA) 2-6 6-0 6-4
John Isner (USA) defeated Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (ESP) 6-4 6-1
Karen Khachanov (RUS) defeated Cameron Norrie (GBR) 6-4 5-7 6-4
Dusan Lajovic (SRB) defeated [Q] Emil Ruusuvuori (FIN) 3-6 6-3 6-3
Kei Nishikori (JPN) defeated Miomir Kecmanovic (SRB) 6-4 6-7 6-2
[LL] Frances Tiafoe (USA) defeated [Q] Yoshihito Nishioka (JPN) 6-4 6-3

NATIONAL BANK OPEN ROUND OF 32 RESULTS: 

[1] Daniil Medvedev (RUS) defeated Alexander Bublik (KAZ) 4-6 6-3 6-4
[3] Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) defeated Ugo Humbert (FRA) 6-3 6-7 6-1
[6] Casper Ruud (NOR) defeated Marin Cilic (CRO) 6-3 3-6 6-3
[14] Grigor Dimitrov (HUN) vs Reilly Opelka (USA)

Picture credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports