Nadal ousts Wawrinka
World number one Rafael Nadal was made to work hard to clinch his place in the third round of the ATP Rogers Cup before disposing of Stanislas Wawrinka yesterday.
The 24-year-old required a marathon first-set tie-break to assume control against his Swiss opponent, eventually prevailing 7-6 (14/12) 6-3 in Toronto.
Second seed Novak Djokovic and fourth seed Andy Murray also enjoyed straight-sets victories, although the Serbian required medical treatment early in his match due to the blistering heat.
Djokovic saw off Frenchman Julien Benneteau 7-5 7-5 while British fourth seed Murray, the defending champion, overcame Belgium’s Xavier Malisse 7-5 6-2.
Nadal’s fellow Spaniards did not fare so well, with ninth seed Fernando Verdasco and 14th seed Nicolas Almagro second best to French opposition.
Verdasco went down 6-7 (7/9) 7-6 (7/5) 6-2 to Jeremy Chardy while Michael Llodra defeated Almagro 7-6 (7/5) 6-2.
The pair were not the only seeds to fall on Wednesday, with Mikhail Youzhny (12) and Sam Querrey (16) also exiting the tournament.
Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine rallied to beat Russian Youzhny 1-6 7-6 (7/4) 7-5 and South African Kevin Anderson got the better of American Querrey 7-6 (7/4) 4-6 6-4.
Argentinian David Nalbandian extended his winning streak to 10 matches with a straightforward 6-3 6-0 triumph over Spain’s Tommy Robredo.
There were also wins for sixth seed Nikolay Davydenko of Russia, 15th-seeded Frenchman Gael Monfils, Romania’s Victor Hanescu, German Philipp Kohlschreiber and Taipei’s Lu Yen-Hsun.
