Toronto, ON (Sports Network) - Last year's runner-up Mardy Fish was an easy
second-round winner Tuesday at the Rogers Cup, the sixth of nine ATP
Masters tournaments this year.
The 11th-seeded world No. 13 Fish crushed Aussie lucky-loser Matthew Ebden
6-2, 6-0 in a mere 53 minutes on the hardcourts at Rexall Centre.
The American Fish lost to Serbian star Novak Djokovic in last year's finale in
Montreal, as this event shifts between Montreal and Toronto each year.
Up next for Fish will be seventh-seeded Argentine Juan Monaco, who reached the
third round with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Canadian wild card Vasek Pospisil on
Day 2.
Eighth-seeded American John Isner took out Spain's Pablo Andujar, 7-6 (7-5),
7-5; while No. 16 seed Milos Raonic of Canada also won his second-round
encounter over Serbian Viktor Troicki, 6-3, 6-4 during the night session.
It's been a big rise to success for Raonic. Two years ago, when he played in
the Rogers Cup, he was ranked 217th. He's now on the verge of cracking into
the top 20.
Resurgent German Tommy Haas took out fellow former top-five star David
Nalbandian of Argentina 6-2, 6-7 (11-13), 6-3 in 2 hours, 22 minutes, while
recent Los Angeles titlist Sam Querrey of the United States drubbed struggling
Austrian Jurgen Melzer 6-3, 6-2 in opening-round action. The 34-year-old Haas
has appeared in three finals in the last two months, including a title in
Halle, where he stunned Wimbledon champ Roger Federer in the final.
In some other first-round play, Czech Radek Stepanek defeated last week's
Washington, D.C. champion Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine 6-3, 6-1; Spaniard
Marcel Granollers overcame Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky 4-6, 6-4, 6-3;
Russian Mikhail Youzhny handled South African Kevin Anderson 6-1, 7-6 (7-3);
Italian Fabio Fognini outlasted Taiwan's Yen-Hsun Lu 7-6 (9-7), 5-7, 7-6
(7-5); Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin dismissed Canadian Frank Dancevic
6-3, 7-5; and Frenchman Julien Benneteau downed American Wayne Odesnik, 6-4,
6-4.
This week's top seed is the reigning champion and two-time titlist
Djokovic. The field also features Olympic gold medalist and Wimbledon
runner-up Andy Murray and London Games bronze medalist and former U.S.
Open champ Juan Martin del Potro. Murray, like Djokovic, has captured
this Canadian Masters event twice. Del Potro was the 2009 runner-up to Murray
in Montreal.
The newest Rogers Cup champ will collect $522,550.
The Sports Network