Third seed Milos Raonic moved closer to a second Citi Open title on Thursday, saving a pair of set points en route to prevailing in a tight 7-6(7), 6-4 battle with Marcos Baghdatis to reach the quarter-finals.
Both men held serve throughout the first set, but Baghdatis was unable to convert on a 6/4 lead in the tie-break. The Canadian fought back to grab the early advantage on his second set point at 8/7. Raonic rode the momentum through the remainder of the match, breaking Baghdatis twice in the second set to advance in one hour and 31 minutes. He improved his FedEx ATP Head2Head over Baghdatis to 3-1. Raonic also saved two set points in the second set of his opening-round win on Wednesday against Nicolas Mahut.
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Next up for Raonic is eighth seed Jack Sock, who advanced in an all-American battle with #NextGenATP American Jared Donaldson 7-6(6), 6-2. Sock’s match was nearly identical to Raonic’s, saving a pair of set points at 4/6 in the first-set tie-break before going on to control the remainder of the match. He boosts his FedEx ATP Head2Head against Donaldson to 2-0, with the other win coming this past March at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Miami.
Raonic leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head with Sock 8-2 and won their lone meeting at the Citi Open in 2014. Sock saved two match points to take their most recent match this past October at the Shanghai Rolex Masters. They were scheduled to compete this February in the Delray Beach Open final, but Raonic withdrew before taking the court due to a hamstring tear in his right leg.
Britain’s world number one Andy Murray has withdrawn from the Rogers Cup as he has yet to recover from the hip injury which hampered his Wimbledon campaign.
The 30-year-old Scot said he was “disappointed” to miss next week’s tournament in Montreal and Toronto, but added: “I am doing everything I can to return as quickly as possible.”
Murray could lose his number one ranking to Rafael Nadal next week, and he remains a doubt for the US Open, which begins on 28 August.
Earlier on Thursday, five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova withdrew from the event, and Tennis Canada confirmed world number six Marin Cilic has also pulled out.
Nadal and Roger Federer will now be the top two seeds in the men’s draw, with Stan Wawrinka also absent.
Murray is next scheduled to play the Cincinnati Masters from 14 August.
Rafa Eyes No. 1 In Montreal After Murray Withdrawal
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Spaniard could take over top spot on 14 August
Rafael Nadal’s path to No. 1 became a lot simpler with the withdrawal of Andy Murray from the Coupe Rogers in Montreal on Thursday. Nadal needs to reach the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament to return to the top spot in the Emirates ATP Rankings.
The 31-year-old Spaniard was last No. 1 in June 2014. He has spent a total of 141 weeks at No. 1.
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Murray, who’s recovering from a hip injury, has reigned at No. 1 for 39 weeks. Last November, he became the 26th player and first British male to reach No. 1 in the history of the Emirates ATP Rankings (since 23 August 1973).
“Sadly I’ve had to withdraw from Montreal, it’s a tournament that I have a lot of great memories from. I’m working hard as I can to get back on the court as soon as possible,” Murray said.
The coveted World No. 1 spot could change hands again during the U.S. summer, though. Roger Federer, who will play in Montreal, remains in contention but can’t get there in Canada.
.@rogerfederer confirms he will play in Montreal: https://t.co/oDAEhygjZH #CoupeRogers pic.twitter.com/UGHVtvCSoo
Fabio Fognini extended his match-win streak to six on Thursday at the Generali Open in Kitzbühel and is now two matches away from winning back-to-back titles on the ATP World Tour.
The second-seeded Italian, the lone seed remaining in clay-court tournament, made quick work of Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci, breaking him seven times to advance 6-3, 6-1 in 65 minutes.
Fognini captured his fifth ATP World Tour crown last week at the J. Safra Sarasin Swiss Open Gstaad, beating German Yannick Hanfmann in the Swiss Alps mountain town.
He’ll try to make his second consecutive final when he faces Kitzbuehel resident and 2015 champion Phillipp Kohlschreiber. The German saved six of seven break points to beat 2016 semi-finalist Dusan Lajovic of Serbia 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) in two hours and 32 minutes.
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“I’m just happy because I still think I’m playing really good. Tomorrow I have a really tough, tough match with a great opponent, so hopefully I continue like this. Of course, winning is always good but I’m happy if I lose and I play well,” Fognini said.
#NextGenATP Austrian Sebastian Ofner continued to impress the home fans by reaching his first ATP World Tour semi-final. The 21-year-old wild card prevailed past Renzo Olivo of Argentina 6-3, 1-6, 6-3.
Ofner, No. 157 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, ousted top seed Pablo Cuevas, a six-time clay-court titlist, in a third-set tie-break to face Olivo. The Austrian is coming off his breakthrough Grand Slam debut at Wimbledon, where he beat 17th seed Jack Sock to reach the third round before falling to #NextGenATP Alexander Zverev.
Ofner will next face either countryman and 2016 semi-finalist Gerald Melzer or Portugal’s Joao Sousa, who knocked out defending champion Paolo Lorenzi of Italy to reach his fifth ATP World Tour quarter-final of the season.
Britain’s Kyle Edmund went out of the Citi Open in Washington with a three-set defeat by Bulgarian fourth seed Grigor Dimitrov in round two.
Dimitrov won 7-5 4-6 6-3 and next faces Russian Daniil Medvedev, who beat Steve Johnson of the US 3-6 6-4 7-6 (7-1).
Edmund, 22, had been hoping to build on his run to the semi-finals of the Atlanta Open last week.
Australian 10th seed Nick Kyrgios again succumbed to injury in his first match since retiring at Wimbledon last month.
Kyrgios trailed world number 106 Tennys Sandgren of the US 6-3 3-0 when he retired with a right shoulder injury.
“Just struggling, mentally, physically,” said the 22-year-old.
Canadian third seed Milos Raonic needed two tie-breaks to see off Frenchman Nicolas Mahut 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (10-8), while compatriot Eugenie Bouchard beat American eighth seed Christina McHale 7-6 (8-6) 6-0 in the first round of the women’s event.
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