TORONTO (AP) — Top-ranked Novak Djokovic was upset by 13th-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Thursday in the Rogers Cup, falling 6-2, 6-2 in only 63 minutes in the third round.
Djokovic came in with 11 straight wins over Tsonga but was nowhere near adding a 12th.
“Just nothing was going,” Djokovic said. “No baseline, no serve, no return. So just generally (a) very bad day, very poor performance.”
Tsonga’s serve gave Djokovic plenty of trouble. The Frenchman had only eight aces, but Djokovic continually struggled to keep his returns in play.
Serving on match point, Tsonga won when Djokovic’s return went wide. Tsonga did some shadow boxing and jumped up and down before waving to a receptive crowd.
“It’s not every day you get the rewards of what you’re doing every day during the year,” he said. “You leave your family, practice every day hard, suffer a lot on the court. And when you win a match like this, you just feel good.”
Second-seeded Roger Federer faced Marin Cilic in the late match.
Djokovic never looked comfortable in Toronto, his first tournament since winning Wimbledon last month. Four days later, he married his longtime girlfriend.
On Wednesday, Djokovic needed three tough sets to outlast Gael Monfils 6-2, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (2) in the second round.
“I wasn’t hitting the ball clean and a lot of unforced errors,” said Djokovic, who beat Tsonga in the 2008 Australian Open final for his first major title. “It’s maybe (a) lack of matches on this surface and, well, it takes time. Let’s just say it’s going to be better, I’m sure.”
Tsonga will play eighth-seeded Andy Murray in the quarterfinals. Murray advanced when third-round opponent Richard Gasquet withdrew because of an abdominal strain.
Djokovic’s loss was the second big upset of the day. Third-seeded Stan Wawrinka lost 7-6 (8), 7-5 to Kevin Anderson.
Anderson will play seventh-seeded Grigor Dimitrov, a 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 winner over Tommy Robredo.
Fifth-seeded David Ferrer also was pushed to three sets in a 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Ivan Dodig. Ferrer will face the Federer-Cilic winner.
Canada’s Milos Raonic also advanced, beating Julien Benneteau of France 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
The sixth-seeded Raonic, coming off a tournament victory Sunday in Washington, will play Feliciano Lopez in the quarterfinals.
Serena reaches Montreal quarters
MONTREAL (AP) — Serena Williams advanced to the Rogers Cup quarterfinals Thursday, waiting out a brief rain delay to beat Czech left-hander Lucie Safarova 7-5, 6-4.
The top-ranked Williams returned to play last week in Stanford, California, and won her tour-best fourth title of the season. The event was her first since she withdrew from a doubles match at Wimbledon because of equilibrium problems.
Williams has won the Rogers Cup three times when it is held on alternate years in Toronto, including last year, but she had not played in Montreal since she retired from the final with an injury in 2000.
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less