So onto day four of the WTA/ATP Rogers Cup events, which more top seeds tumble on both sides of the men's and ladies tours in Canada.
Starting with the men, the biggest exit, but not entirely unexpected, was Roger Federer who was defeated for the second consecutive time by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in 3 sets, as the Frenchman continued his record over him, this time winning in 7-6, 4-6, 6-1. Tsonga next up faces the Spaniard Nicholas Almagro, which should be a tough match, so I hope Tsonga wins so that way it will setup a potential Djokovic semi final which should be quite exciting. In fact in terms of dangerous players, I think Tsonga poses as much a threat to Djokovic as Federer and Murray do. He could well be one of few guys that could beat him, but I very much doubt he will. Next up Gael Monfils took on Djoky's fellow Serb and good friend Viktor Troicki as they battled it out for victory which saw Gael Monfils seal it after a very tough 3 set match, winning in 3-6, 7-6, 7-6. So Monfils will next face Djokovic, where I'm sure Djoko will have a chance to avenge his fellow Serb's defeat, it should be hopefully a good match, as they have had tough matches in the past, although it might be more straight forward this time. Also Tomas Berdych made it through against the giant Ivo Karlovich in straight sets 6-3, 7-6, and Mardy Fish now the US No.1 battled past Ernests Gublis from Latvia. Djokovic himself also secured his place in the quarter finals by defeating Croat Marin Cilic in a fairly straight forward match in 7-5, 6-2, Djoko once again had a tight first set but he found his feet easily and secured a double break in the 2nd to seal it. And finally Stan Wawrinka, the Swiss No.2 battled his way past the giant Kevin Anderson, who defeated Andy Murray so easily, but Stan needed 3 sets to make his way past the big un in 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.
So this all makes for a very promising set of quarter finals matches, the most intruiging being of course Djokovic vs Monfils, to see if the Frenchman can push Djoko all the way, in his current omnipotent state I kind of doubt it, but it will be intruiging all the same. Also in the doubles the Murray bros continued to impress as they got past the Number 8 seeds in the draw to make it to the quarter finals in Montreal. Next up they face Tomas Berdych and Florian Mayer, can they pull off winnig the title?? They could well do, c'mon the Muzzas!! But time will tell.
On the WTA side in Toronto, there were a few more upsets, the main one being Maria Sharapova who exited, falling to the Kazakstan wildcard Galina Voskoboeva in 6-4, 7-5, at one point in the 2nd set Galina had the chance to close out the match at 5-4, but she double faulted twice, then went nuts (as you do). But the tantrum passed and she carried on by breaking Maria's serve and serving it out to ensure the biggest win of her career. Vera Zvonareva once again also was handed a defeat by the crafty, very talented Pole Agnieszka Radwanska, who really is coming on in leaps and bounds this year. Meanwhile 13 time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams, who is starting to make a confident comeback also came through a tough match against the Chinese player in 3 sets, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. Sam Stosur also confidently made it past the French Open champion Li Na in straigh sets 6-3, 6-4, as the Chinese No.1 struggled with Stosur's serve. Andrea Petkovic managed to get revenge on Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, as she Czeck failed to get anything going at all, as she battled against the windy conditions and her opponent who was on top form, with Petko winning in 6-1, 6-2, after which she did her cheesy Petko dance (this time a Mexican wave!). And finally the mad grunter Victoria Azarenka, the Belarusian No.1, breezed past Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez in straights 6-1, 6-2.
Again this makes for a very promising quarter finals setup, with four potentially great matches ahead, it will also be very interesting to see if Serena Williams can come out top again, its a fair chance she might. She may have been out of the game for a year, but her ability and skill are still very much at the forefront and it would insane to write her off winning not only this title but another Grand Slam, so everyone better watch out at the US Open, as Serena already has won at Stanford and she will look to build on that.
So that's my summary fer now, plenty of good tennis awaits both sides of the tours and cities.
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