Rafael Nadal of Spain reacts during his match against Daniel Evans of Britain during second round of play at the Rogers Cup tennis tournament, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2019 in Montreal. (Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press via AP)
MONTREAL — Top-seeded Rafael Nadal opened his Rogers Cup title defense Wednesday, beating England’s Daniel Evans 7-6 (6), 6-4 in a second-round match delayed by rain three times.
After rain delays of six and 30 minutes, Nadal fought off two set points in the first-set tiebreaker. Play was stopped for 1 hour, 56 minutes with Nadal leading 2-0 in the second set.
“All the matches are difficult here,” Nadal said. “It was a tough first set. Then in the second, I was able to take advantage at the beginning, but then he broke me back.”
The 33-year-old Spanish star, a four-time Rogers Cup champion, will face Argentina’s Guido Pella in the third round. Pella beat Moldova’s Radu Albot 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (2).
Second-seeded Dominic Thiem beat Canada’s Denis Shapovalov 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. Coming off a victory on clay at the Generali Open in his native Austria, Theim will face 14th-seeded Marin Cilic of Croatia,
Cilic topped Australia’s John Millman 6-3, 6-4.
Felix Auger-Aliassime won an all-Canadian match when Milos Raonic retired because of a back injury. Auger-Aliassime won the first set 6-3, and Raonic took the second 6-3 before stopping play.
Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz upset fourth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, France’s Richard Gasquet beat fifth-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan 6-7 (6), 6-2, 7-6 (4); France’s Adrian Mannarino, topped 11th-seeded Borna Coric of Croatia, 6-2, 6-1; ; and Cristian Garin of Chile knocked off 12th-seeded American John Isner 6-3, 6-4.
Sixth-seeded Karen Khachanov of Russia edged Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-2; seventh-seeded Fabio Fognini beat American qualifier Tommy Paul 7-6 (3), 6-3; eighth-seeded Daniil Medvedev of Russia topped Kyle Edmund of Britain 6-3, 6-0; and 10th-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain edged Diego Schwartzman of Argentina 6-2, 7-5.