In his first appearance since reaching the Wimbledon final, fourth seed Milos Raonic wasted little time in disposing of Yen-Hsun Lu in the second round of the Rogers Cup. The Canadian took down the World No. 70 in the Emirates ATP Rankings 6-3, 6-3 on Wednesday to atone for a first-up defeat on home soil last year, in which he fell to Feliciano Lopez.

“It’s a good way to start the tournament,” said Raonic. “I look to continue hopefully playing better the next match, which I know is going to be necessary. I would like to do well here. I probably put some extra pressure on myself there. I think I got that behind me very quickly, and I played a solid match start to finish.”

Raonic is bidding to reach his third straight ATP World Tour final after runner-up showings at Wimbledon and the Aegon Championships. He will be hoping to go one better than his previous best at the Rogers Cup – a runner-up result to Rafael Nadal in 2013.

Watch: Spending A Day With Raonic In Toronto

The World No. 7 in the Emirates ATP Rankings hit eight aces and won 80 per cent of first-serve points in the one-hour, six-minute encounter to extend his FedEx ATP Head2Head record against the 32 year old from Chinese Taipei to 3-0.

He will meet #NextGen qualifier Jared Donaldson after the American sent last week’s Umag champion Fabio Fognini packing. Donaldson snapped the Italian’s five-match winning streak with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 result. The American, ranked No. 147 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, was particularly impressive on serve. He only faced three break points compared to 11 for Fognini.

Gael Monfils is on a seven-match winning streak after prevailing over local favourite Vasek Pospisil. The No. 10 seed found another gear after a tough opening set to move into the third round, 7-6(6), 6-0.

Neither player faced a break point in the opening set, but Pospisil squandered a set point on his serve in the tie-break at 6/5, allowing Monfils to take the next two points and the set. The second set was one-way traffic for Monfils, with the Frenchman winning 11 of the last 13 points to take the match.

Monfils, a winner last week at the Citi Open, will next play seventh seed David Goffin. The Belgian advanced to the third round after Sam Querrey was forced to stop play in their match due to a back injury while trailing 4-6, 1-2. Goffin also defeated Querrey in the second round of last year’s Rogers Cup. Monfils leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry with Goffin 1-0, but they haven’t played each other in more than three years.

In an all-American second-round match, No. 16 seed Jack Sock defeated Donald Young, 6-4, 6-3. Sock didn’t face a break point in the match and lost just nine points on serve, improving his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry with Young to 3-0. He will now play second seed Stan Wawrinka for a place in the quarter-finals. 

It’s hard to imagine being called an elder statesman at age 29, but Novak Djokovic has become a veteran figure on the ATP World Tour in his 13^th season as a pro.

Making his 10^th appearance at the Rogers Cup, the top seed was forced to be on top of his game from the first ball in a tricky opening round against Gilles Muller. Djokovic advanced into the third round in two tight sets after having to serve to stay in both of them.

But whether it’s performing in front of full stadiums or trying his hand at an exhibition ball hockey game last weekend in Toronto, Djokovic is embracing his role as one of the most-watched figures in the sport.

“I’m obviously doing everything in my own power and my own field of influence to be a positive example on and off the court. I’m very connected emotionally to this sport,” said Djokovic. “I feel that bond and I try to be honest and transfer that passion on the court and off it… So I hope people can relate to that and recognise that.”

Rather than shying away from the elder statesman label, Djokovic is embracing it. He was among the players elected last month to the ATP Player Council, joining Andy Murray and other top players in serving a two-year term through June 2018.

“As somebody that is on top of the game and has at this moment [a] certain influence, I can try to use that influence and contribute in a good way to the sport,” said Djokovic. “Roger Federer has done that for a long time and Rafael Nadal was also in the council for a long time. I think it’s good that the best players in the world are getting involved.”

Having already left an indelible mark on the court, the Serbian said being on the Player Council now provides with him an opportunity to do the same off the court.

“[It’s] making a positive difference in the sport for the future generations as well, not just for us. We are talking about the seasons to come, ’18, ’19, ’20,” said Djokovic. “Who knows if some of us will still play at that time, but we can do something that is going to leave a mark of our legacy on the sport. Not just as tennis players, but as people who try to live a better sport for future generations.”

Third seed Kei Nishikori kicked off his summer hard court campaign in style on Wednesday at the Rogers Cup, moving into the third round with a win over qualifier Dennis Novikov, 6-4, 7-5.

“I thought it was a good match, good enough for the first match since Wimbledon,” said Nishikori. “I knew I was going to get ups-and-downs because I haven’t played matches in a long time and I didn’t practise much the first couple of weeks after getting injured…but it was still a good, solid match today.”

Nishikori dropped just five points in racing out to a 4-0 lead in the opening set, but Novikov fought back to level the set at 4-4. Just when it appeared the American might be on his way to an improbable comeback, Nishikori responded by breaking his opponent to lead 5-4 and then serving out the set.

Novikov continued to hang tough with his opponent, forcing Nishikori to serve to stay in the set at 4-5. But the third seed saved his best tennis for the end by breaking his opponent once more to lead 6-5 and then closing out the contest.

Next up for Nishikori is Rajeev Ram, who upset No. 13 seed Lucas Pouille, 6-4, 7-6(4). The American squandered two match points on his serve at 5-4 and couldn’t serve out the match again at 6-5, but made good in the tie-break on his fourth match point opportunity. 

Nishikori leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry with Ram 3-1, with all three wins coming on hard courts.

Kevin Anderson also moved into the third round after No. 6 seed Dominic Thiem was forced to retire due to a hip injury with Anderson leading 4-1 in the first set.