July 24, 2008

Cilic

For the second day in a row, a rising star knocked a big name out of the Rogers Cup.

In front of a packed house, 19-year-old Marin Cilic defeated crowd favourite Andy Roddick in three tough sets. The young Croat, who is making his first appearance at Canada's biggest tournament, was aggressive against the former champion throughout the match. He lost focus for only a brief period in the second set but was otherwise dominant, serving big and returning everything Roddick threw at him to win 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. Also suffering from the upset bug was No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko (Russia) who was dumped by veteran Nicolas Kiefer. The experienced German fought back from a break down in the second set to get the match into a deciding third set and then capitalized on the opportunity by knocking him out.

No. 2 Rafael Nadal and No. 3 seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia had better luck in their third round matches. Under the stars on Centre Court, Nadal made quick work of Russia's Igor Andreev. Only three points into the first game of the contest, Andreev rolled his ankle and fell to the ground. In a superb act of sportsmanship, Nadal immediately went to the other side of the net to make sure his opponent was okay. After receiving medical attention he came back on court but seemed rattled, dropping the first set 6-2. The second was significantly closer as Andreev found his groove again but Nadal was simply too much, winning the contest in a second-set tiebreak. Earlier in the day, Djokovic dispatched Sweden's Robin Soderling 6-4, 6-4 thanks to his ability to save break points, as he did not drop his serve at all despite facing four break points.

Also advancing on Thursday were No. 8 Andy Murray (Great Britain) and No. 10 Richard Gasquet (France), who each had to battle past extremely tough opponents in the third round just to reach the quarters. Murray's victory over No. 9 Stanislas Wawrinka was anything but consistent. He crushed the Swiss star in the first set and then got steamrolled in the second. However, he was able to rebound in the third to hold on for a 6-2, 0-6, 6-4 triumph. Meanwhile, Gasquet had to get through No. 5 David Ferrer (Spain) at night to advance. The 2005 finalist wasn't really threatened, winning 6-3, 6-3.

Rounding out the day were wins by No. 7 James Blake (United States) and Frenchman Gilles Simon, yesterday's giant killer. Blake avenged the loss he suffered at the hands of Russia's Dmitry Tursunov last week by defeating him on Centre Court. The two men each took a set before rain interrupted play. When they finally got back on court, Tursunov jumped out to an early lead but faltered down the stretch and Blake ultimately won 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.