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Patna : Top seed and defending champion Rafael Nadal, 33, Spain, entered the 3rd round of Rogers Cup at Montreal, Canada, defeating qualifier and World No 53 Dan Evans, 29, UK, in straights sets in the second round after August 7, 2019, midnight. World No 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas, 20, Greece, the 4th seed, and World No 6 Kei Nishikori, 29, Japan, the 5th seed, however, suffered shock defeats in their second round matches.
Nadal beat Evans in a tough contest 7-6, 6-4 in 2 hr 1 minute in the second round. The first set alone lasted more than one hour and Evan even led 6-5 in the tiebreak but Nadal rallied to win the last three points to win in the tiebreak 8-6. Evans gave Nadal a run for his money even in the 2nd set though the Spaniard prevailed ultimately. Nadal won 3 break points in the match to 2 by Evans. Nadal also won 3 games in a row to 2 by Evans. Evans though fired 10 Aces in the match to 7 by Nadal, who will face World No 24 Guido Pella, 29, Argentina, in Round of 16..
World No 48 Hurbert Hurkacz, 22, Poland, a qualifier, stunned Tsitsipas 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in 1 hr 49 minute on August 8, 2019, early morning.Hurkacz won two break points to 1 by Tsitsipas. Hurkacz fired 8 Aces in the match to 7 by Tsitsipas. Both the players won 3 games each in a row in the match. The Pole won 62 service points to 56 by the 4th seed. Hurkacz will face World No 20 Gael Monfils, 32, France, in Round of 16.
World No 66 Richard Gasquet, 33, France, beat World No 6 Nishikori in a three-set slugfest 6-7, 6-2, 7-6 in 3 hr 9 minutes in second round coming from behind after August 7 midnight. Gasquet won 5 break points in the match to 3 by Nishikori. He also fired 11 Aces in the match to 7 by Nishikori. Gasquet won 4 games in a row to 2 by the Japanese. Gasquet will face World No 13 Roberto Bautista Agut, Spain, in the next round.
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