TORONTO — A nagging left foot injury forced Rafael Nadal out of
the ATP Toronto Masters on Tuesday as top seed Daniil Medvedev rallied to reach
the third round.
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Nadal, a five-time champion in Canada, pulled the plug on his participation
before his scheduled second-round opener with plans to return to Spain for
treatment of the injury which kept him from Wimbledon and the Tokyo Olympics.
"I've had this issue for a couple of months," he said. "It is
not a happy situation after all the success that I had here in Canada.
"I need to go back (to Mallorca) and try to find a way to be
better again. With this pain, I'm not able to enjoy (playing).
"I believe that I am not able to compete at the level that I need
because the foot doesn't allow me to move the way that I need," added
Nadal, who was the second seed in the hardcourt tournament.
Top-seeded Russian Medvedev opened his week in the second round after a bye
and staged a fightback to overhaul Kazakh Alexander Bublik 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
The Russian came back a changed man after a second-set rain delay.
"I was not playing well before the rain," he said. "I was not
feeling the ball and was missing on returns. "I just wanted to
play better — I knew I had to if I was going to win.
"When we got back on court, I felt much better from the first
game."
Medvedev advanced with 27 winners and 28 unforced errors in the two-hour
victory.
New world number three Stefanos Tsitsipas cured an extended case of the
jitters with a runaway third set to finally overcome Ugo Humbert 6-3, 6-7
(13/15), 6-1.
With the win he avenged a pair of previous losses to Humbert, including in
the third round of the Olympics.
The Greek wasted five match points in the second set while his French
opponent held on in a 23-minute tiebreaker.
But after a speedy deciding set, Tsitsipas finally prevailed on his
seventh match point, finishing with 37 winners including 16 aces.
"It's all about the fighting spirit," Tsitsipas said. "I
don't like to give up.
"It was not easy out there, I had to put in a lot of effort
and give my best.
"It didn't work out for me in the second set, but nothing could stop me
in the third."
Sixth seed Casper Ruud made a smooth transition to hardcourt after winning
three consecutive claycourt titles, knocking out Marin Cilic 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
The Norwegian, who has moved to 10th in the rankings, won his 36th match of
the season.
Kei Nishikori, runner up in 2016, carried his Tokyo Olympic and Washington
momentum into a 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 6-2 first-round win over Miomir Kecmanovic.
Asia's leading player, who reached the quarterfinals at the Games and
followed up by reaching the semi-finals in Washington, broke the 59th-ranked
Serb five times in their match lasting for just over two hours.
"My level is good, I'm playing some of my best tennis so far this year
over the last couple of tournaments," Nishikori said. "I'm back on
track now."
Olympic silver medallist Karen Khachanov defeated Britain's Cameron Norrie
6-4, 5-7, 6-4 with 10 aces, lining up a date with 15th-seeded fellow Russian
Aslan Karatsev.
Isner with ease
American John Isner, winner of a sixth Atlanta trophy earlier this month,
pounded 19 aces in his 6-4, 6-1 thrashing of Spaniard Alejandro
Davidovich Fokina.
Serb Dusan Lajovic put out Finnish qualifier Emil Ruusuvuori 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
while Georgia's Nikoloz Basilashvili beat Washington semi-finalist Jenson
Brooksby 2-6, 6-0, 6-4.
Brooksby erupted as he was aced on match point, firing his racquet angrily
into advertising hoardings at the side of the court.
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