Toronto: Milos Raonic posted a second Canadian victory here, Monday, joining Peter Polansky in the second round of the ATP Toronto Masters after a 6-3, 6-4 win over Belgium David Goffin.
However, Vasek Pospisil missed out on a local hat-trick in a night match as the Canadian lost to Croatian Borna Coric four and three after a three-hour afternoon rain interruption.
Former Wimbledon finalist Raonic, now ranked 29th due to an injury plagued 2017, won in his first match since going out in the Wimbledon quarterfinals to John Isner a month ago.
Raonic sent over his 15th ace as well as a double fault as he served for the win against 10th seed Goffin, who had no answer to the Canadian’s big game. The Belgian sent a return long to hand Raonic a match point, with the Canadian finishing it all off on his first chance as Goffin sent a forehand into the net after 75 minutes.
“It was tough, I was fortunate to find a way to win today (Monday),” Raonic said. “I was not sure how it would so – so I’m glad it went the way it did. I’m also glad he didn’t make any returns. This was a good win, but there are matches where I will have to work harder, otherwise I will have lot of problems.
In other matches after the bad weather passed, 11th seed Diego Schwartzman crushed Kyle Edmund 6-1, 6-2.
On the other hand, World No. 121 Polansky reached the second round for a third straight year, upsetting Australian World No. 52 Matt Ebden 7-6 (7/3), 6-4.
Jack Sock, who has not won a match since Roland Garros more than two months ago, lost in the first round for a fourth straight event, going down 3-6, 6-3, 3-6 to Daniil Medvedev. Meanwhile Benoit Paire reined in his fearsome temper to earn a straightforward first round 6-3, 6-4 win over American Jared Donaldson to set up a showdown with top seed Rafael Nadal.
The Spaniard leads the draw with holder Alexander Zverev, the weekend champion in Washington, the second seed.
Belarusian qualifier Ilya Ivashka extended his run of weekend success as he beat Japan’s Yuichi Sugita 6-2, 6-3 while Pablo Carreno Busta advanced when Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka retired after the first set.
At a glance
Milos Raonic bt David Goffin 6-3, 6-4
Peter Polansky bt Matt Ebden 7-6 (7-3), 6-4
Daniil Medvedev bt Jack Sock 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
Benoit Paire bt Jared Donaldson 6-3, 6-4
Ilya Ivashka bt Yuichi Sugita 6-2, 6-3
Borna Coric bt Vasek Pospisil 6-4, 6-3