Rogers Cup Quarterfinals

Chaos is the name of the game in Montreal for the men's portion of the Rogers Cup tournaments, with four of the remaining men being unseeded, and a couple of them ranked in the 70s.  Two Canadians remain in the draw, much to the delight of the home crowd.  The top five remaining seeds (after Sharapova and Azarenka pulled out) remain in the women's draw, which has been anything but chaotic.  And the other three women are some of the hottest on tour in recent weeks.

Here are the remaining players:

Men
1) Novak Djokovic (SRB)
4) Rafael Nadal (ESP)
7) Richard Gasquet (FRA)
11) Milos Raonic (CAN)
Nikolay Davydenko (RUS)
Ernests Gulbis (LAT)
Vasek Pospisil (CAN)
Q) Marinko Matosevic (AUS)

-Three of the quarterfinals from 2012 remain: Djokovic, Gasquet, and Raonic
-Of the other 2012 quarterfinalists, Murray and Granollers each won one match, Fish did not enter, and Isner and Tipsarevic (last year's semifinalists) were beaten in round 1.
-Matosevic and Pospisil are both through to their first Masters quarterfinal.  The Canadian no. 2 had only won two Masters main draw matches, one each in Rogers Cup the last two years.
-Canada is only country to have more than one quarterfinalist.
-One more win for Nadal and he passes Ferrer to get back to no. 3 in the world.  Gulbis and Davydenko are close to getting seeds at the US Open.  Pospisil is up to no. 57.

Women
1) Serena Williams (USA)
3) Agnieszka Radwanska (POL)
4) Na Li (CHN)
5) Sara Errani (ITA)
6) Petra Kvitova (CZE)
Dominika Cibulkova (SVK)
Sorana Cirstea (ROU)
Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK)

-Three of the quarterfinalists from 2012 remain: Radwanska, Li, and Kvitova.  The latter two contested the final.
-Other 2012 quarterfinalists were Safarova and Wozniacki was lost their opening match, Vinci who came a win short of defending her points (l. to Cibulkova), and Paszek and Wozniak who were not in the main draw.
-Rybarikova won a title last week in Washington, so she now boasts an 8-match winning streak.  Serena also has a small win streak, having not played since her Bastad title.  Cibulkova has had a good summer already, defeating Radwanska to win in Cincinnati, and Cirstea has been in the mix late at tournaments too.
-Slovakia is the only country to have more than one quarterfinalist
-Not a ton of movement in the rankings due to this tournament, but Rybarikova is up to no. 33 so she will likely be seeded at the US Open.  That is a small surprise.

The participants in last year's men's final meet again this year in the quarters.  Most likely we will get a de facto final between Nadal and Djokovic.  This tournament may yield one of the most surprising Master's finalists in quite some time (although Janowicz made the Paris final last fall), since Raonic, Davydenko, Pospisil, and Gulbis are on the same side.  This is a tremendous opportunity for Raonic.  I still think Djokovic is the favorite to win this event, but it's not an easy road with Gasquet and then Nadal before the final.

Also of note here is that 19-yr-old Canadian wild card Filip Peliwo, a former boys major champion, advanced to the second round when Nieminen retired down a break in the 3rd set.  Canadians went 5-0 in round 1.  And if you're wondering where some of the other top ranked players went, Ferrer lost to Bogomolov in straight sets, Federer pulled out late, Berdych fell to Pospisil in a 3rd set tiebreak, Del Potro lost to Raonic in straight sets, and Wawrinka blew match points in a nail biter against Matosevic.

Nothing so far has changed the fact that Serena is the clear favorite, though there the possibility of a nice final for her against either Li or Kvitova (though I wouldn't count out Cibulkova from getting there).  A potential Serena/Radwanska semi would serve as a good barometer for where the Pole's game is at as she's been a little up and down recently.  Despite the fact that Sharapova and Azarenka leave some holes in the draw, there are enough intriguing players left to make for an interesting weekend.

American Play
Isner was the only American who went north of the border and got in the main draw (there were a few losers in qualifying), and he can only be thinking "if only".  He lost to Pospisil in a 3rd set tiebreak after blowing a break advantage in the 3rd set.

The women have gone 6-7 which is OK but not great.  Serena and Stephens notched two wins each, the latter bowing out against Radwanska.  Lepchenko and q-Davis picked up first round wins.  Venus, Hampton, q-Riske, and l-Mattek-Sands were first round losers.  These top tournaments can have tough fields but I would like to think the younger Americans can do a little better.  (Davis win was over Kuznetsova and then she lost to Bartoli.)

Third set tiebreaks
Men: Seppi def. Rosol (R1), Klizan def. Bellucci (R1), Pospisil def. Isner (R1), Pospisil def. Berdych (R3)
Women: Barthel def. Zheng (R1), Li def. Ivanovic (R3)

Tomorrow's quarterfinals
Djokovic vs Gasquet
Nadal vs Matosevic
Davydenko vs Pospisil
Raonic vs Gulbis

Serena vs Rybarikova
Radwanska vs Errani
Li vs Cibulkova
Kvitova vs Cirstea