The 2019 Rogers Cup men’s singles tournament may be missing at least a couple of big-time names with the withdrawals of Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, but there are still the likes of Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem to look forward to for fans of the annual event in Canada. Nadal enters the tournament as its defending champion, but can he stave off the youngsters and veterans to make it two in a row? Or will we see a new face win it all up north of the border?
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FAVORITES
Rafael Nadal
With Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer backing out of the 2019 Rogers Cup, the path to the top is now paved for Nadal to take to the top of the field. It seems like this tournament is for Nadal to lose, especially with those two aforementioned giants of the game not participating for various reasons. Nadal knows very well the kind of environment to expect at this year’s Rogers Cup. He’s won this tournament before, and is, in fact, the defending champion. He beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in last year’s finals to pocket his fourth-overall Rogers Cup title. Nadal has two titles on the season, including a win at the 2018 French Open. He is 11-2 on ATP matches played on hard courts this year. He is also 37-6 on outdoor matches.
Dominic Thiem
Thiem is another player who’s likely to benefit the most from the withdrawals of Federer and Djokovic. Of course, the fewer top competition, the better for all participating players’ chances to win the Rogers Cup, but Thiem is the second-seeded player in this tournament, and that means he’s almost a sure shot of being the favorite in each match he’ll be in, except when he crosses paths with Nadal, who’s the only higher-seeded competitor than the 25-year-old Austrian. Thiem is coming off a quarterfinals loss at the Hamburg Open to Andrey Rublev, which succeeded a surprising first-round exit at the 2019 Wimbledon. However, he put together a great performance at the 2019 French Open, reaching the finals by beating Novak Djokovic in the semifinals. Thiem is 6-3 this year on hard courts.
SLEEPERS
Kei Nishikori
Nishikori once came close of winning it all at the Rogers Cup. Just three years ago, he made a solid run to book a spot in the finals. He ultimately lost to Djokovic, but at least he’s shown enough for others to believe in his ability to stitch together an impressive set of wins to go deep. Nishikori is 13-5 on the year on hard-court ATP matches and has one title this 2019 so far. He topped the Brisbane International (hard court) earlier this year. He also made the quarterfinals of the 2019 Australian Open, where he had to withdraw from his quarterfinals match against Djokovic due to exhaustion.
Stefanos Tsitsipas
Tsitsipas has improved a lot since falling short of winning last year’s Rogers Cup when he lost in the finals to Nadal. People shouldn’t also forget that Tsitsipas had already scored a huge victory against a big fish in that tournament before facing Nadal, as he took down Djokovic in the round of 16. Tsitsipas also scored a solid win over a solid contender in Thiem in the round of 32. Tsitsipas is having a decent year on the hard surface, as he is 17-7 on hard-court matches to date this 2019.
LONG SHOT
Gael Monfils
Monfils is seeded just 15th for the 2019 Rogers Cup, and expectations are low for the Frenchman, who can be worth a value bet. After all, he’s already won a hard-court tournament this year, as he raised his first title of the year at the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam back in February. Monfils also has a strong 15-3 record on hard-court ATP matches so far this year.
Writer’s Prediction
Rafael Nadal takes home his fifth Rogers Cup title.
