adminNOVAK DJOKOVIC and Andy Murray remain on a quarter-final collision course at the Rogers Cup in Toronto after both men came through their second-round matches on Wednesday.
Djokovic was pushed all the way by the talented Frenchman Gaël Monfils 6-2, 6-7, while Murray cruised to 6-2, 6-2 triumph over the Australian Nick Kyrgios.
Djokovic, the No1 seed, looked to be on the cusp of an easy win himself after a dominant opening set, but Monfils steadied the ship and then turned the tide with an audacious half-volley drop shot late in the second set.
The delightful winner, hit while the Frenchman looked the other way, had everyone in the stadium fooled and created momentum that saw him home in the second-set tie-break.
Monfils then looked to have cherry-picked the perfect moment to break Djokovic for the first time to go 3-1 up in the decider, but the world No1 dug in to maintain his 100 percent record against the Frenchman.
By contrast, Murray’s serve was too much for Kyrgios, producing seven aces, as he returned to action for the first time since failing to defend his Wimbledon title last month. The 27-year-old now faces Richard Gasquet, who beat Ivo Karlovic 5-7, 7-6, 6-3, while Djokovic will meet Jo-Wilfried Tsonga after he triumphed over his countryman Jérémy Chardy 7-6, 6-4 earlier on Wednesday.
If they both manage to come through those tests then they will meet in a repeat of the 2012 US Open final ahead of this year’s tournament in New York later this month.
The fifth seed David Ferrer made hard work of the American qualifier Michael Russell, but he eventually came through 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 to book a third-round match-up with the Croatian Ivan Dodig, who beat Andreas Seppi 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 .
The winner of that clash will face either Marin Cilic or Roger Federer after Cilic beat Malek Jaziri to meet the world No3. — The Guardian
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