Nadal, Next Gen move on in Toronto

Like many other big names, Rafael Nadal is this week making his first appearance on court since Wimbledon.

Yet unlike women’s champion Angelique Kerber, who crashed out in her opening match to Alize Cornet in Montreal, the world No.1 had no problems in his first outing.

Nadal, who reached the semifinals at Wimbledon, romped to a 6-3 6-2 win over Benoit Paire, extending his head-to-head record against the Frenchman to a flawless 4-0.

Harder than it looked…@RafaelNadal secures victory over a tricky Benoit Paire, 6-2 6-3.#RogersCup pic.twitter.com/zXmS1G6fLr

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) August 9, 2018

It sets up a blockbuster third-round match with Stan Wawrinka; the Swiss overcame Marton Fucsovics in a titanic battle, saving four match points to win 12-10 in a final-set tiebreak.

“This kind of meeting is always a very tough opponent. And it’s a match that we played two times in a Grand Slam final,” said Nadal of the rematch of both the Australian Open 2014 and French Open 2017 finals. “It’s going to be an important and tough match hopefully for both of us.”

RELATED: Djokovic wins in Toronto, Del Potro out injured

The man who beat Nadal at Wimbledon, eventual champion Novak Djokovic, extended his winning streak to nine with a straight-sets triumph over Canadian wildcard Peter Polansky.

Djokovic, Nadal and Wawrinka, all multiple major winners, were among several veterans cementing their place in the last 16 in Toronto.

Veterans on the march…

[1] @RafaelNadal d Paire
[8] @JohnIsner d Herbert
[4] @KAndersonATP d Donskoy
[9] @DjokerNole d Polansky#RogersCup

More: https://t.co/eL0w4KxAHd

— Tennismash (@tennismash) August 9, 2018

Next Gen too strong for experienced opponents

But it was the youngsters lighting up the stage on Thursday.

Home favourite Denis Shapovalov upset in-form Italian Fabio Fognini, recovering from 0-4 down in the second set to post a 6-3 7-5 victory.

“I think my game is at a very high level right now. And I was telling everyone, I’m playing well in practice. I’m feeling really good,” said Shapovalov, who reached the semifinals in Canada (Montreal) last year.

“I think having my mom on the side has really helped me the last couple weeks. I’ve really picked up my game. We’ve really worked on a couple of aspects that have helped me in the last couple of weeks.”

Another was Stefanos Tsitsipas, who gained revenge on Dominic Thiem via a 6-3 7-6(6) win over the No.7 seed.

Thiem had won three of their four previous career meetings – all taking place in 2018 – and their most recent match-up at Roland Garros, but couldn’t suppress the Greek teenager this time around.

“It was a fantastic match from the beginning till the end. And I’m really looking forward to my next match because I want to prove that I can play even better than that,” Tsitsipas said.

“I felt like I was stronger than him today. Confidence played an important role in my game today. I felt my serve was working really well. And I managed to win lots of easy points on my serve and put pressure on him, knowing that he cannot find solutions while I was serving on my service games.”

Frances Tiafoe joined Shapovalov and Tsitsipas in the third round with an impressive 7-6(4) 4-6 6-1 win over former world No.3 Milos Raonic.

Tiafoe improved to 12-3 in three-set matches and 14-6 in tiebreaks in 2018 and is projected to crack the top 40 when next week’s rankings are released.

Another of the young brigade, Alexander Zverev, made smooth progress with a 6-4 6-4 win over American qualifier Bradley Klahn.

The 21-year-old is the second seed and defending champion in Canada after winning the Masters title in Montreal 12 months ago.

Title defence off to a good start as Sacha Zverev outclasses Klahn 6-4 6-4.

Awaits winner of Auger-Aliassime v Medvedev.#RogersCup pic.twitter.com/s9UEalSXCT

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) August 9, 2018