Djokovic stops showman Stepanek in Toronto
TORONTO, Canada: Novak Djokovic stopped tennis showman Radek Stepanek on Thursday with a 6-2, 6-4 victory to march into the quarterfinals of the Toronto Masters.
The top seed and three-time Canadian titleholder won in a light-hearted matchup with one of the characters of the ATP Tour as the 37-year-old Stepanek kept the crowd entertained with extravagant shotmaking.
Several times, the Czech took victory laps around the court after winning shots, often to the delight of Djokovic, who now stands an overwhelming 12-1 in the series with his frequent training partner.
“It’s quite enjoyable to play Radek, he’s such an entertainer,” Djokovic said. “It’s not easy to play someone you know so well and respect a lot.
“We are all grateful to him for staying in the sport for such a long time.”
Djokovic took the opening set but went down a break in the second, earning it back as he won a nine-minute fourth game for 2-2.
From that point on, he did not drop a point on serve.
“I just wanted to focus on each point and not allow him to go up a break again. There were a lot of close games, it could have gone a different way in the second set.
“I was fortunate to stay tough. Conditions here are very quick, It’s not easy to break serve, plus Radek takes away a lot of your time with his angled returns.”
Djokovic Friday faces Czech fifth seed Tomas Berdych, who got past Ryan Harrison of the US 6-4, 6-7 (2/7), 6-4.
Second seed Stan Wawrinka matched his best career result at the event with a 7-6 (7/3), 6-2 defeat of American Jack Sock.
Wawrinka next plays South African Kevin Anderson, who overhauled 12th seed Bernard Tomic 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in two hours, firing 26 aces and saving eight of nine break points.
Japan’s third seed Kei Nishikori reached the quarters without the loss of a set as an injury from Wimbledon fades away.
Asia’s top player advanced over Rajeev Ram 6-3, 6-4.
Washington champion Gael Monfils won his eighth match in a row with the tenth seed advancing over number seven David Goffin, 7-6 (7/5), 2-6, 6-4 in a debut meeting.
He now takes on fourth seed Milos Raonic, a confident winner over Jared Donaldson 6-2, 6-3.
In Montreal, Venus Williams tumbled out in the third round of the Rogers Cup in Montreal on Thursday, suffering an upset loss to Madison Keys in her final tournament before the Olympics.
The sixth-seeded Williams was beaten 6-1, 6-7 (2/7), 6-3 by 10th seed Keys, who will now face Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the quarterfinals.
Williams, 36, looked well below her best as Keys raced away with the first set before forging a 3-1 lead in the second.
However Williams, who reached the final of last week’s tournament in Stanford, rallied to level with victory in the second set tiebreak.
Keys raised her game in the decisive third set however and quickly broke Williams to gain the advantage before converting match point with an ace to seal the win.
Pavlyuchenkova earlier scored the biggest upset of the day with a three-set victory over 2014 champion and fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, winning 6-4, 6-7 (4/7), 6-1.
The win comes hard on the heels of her impressive showing at Wimbledon where she reached the quarterfinals for the first time.
Venus bows out in Montreal