It’s time for Genie.
A bunch of stars are out Tuesday—including local favourite Eugenie Bouchard—on Day 2 of the Rogers Cup in Montreal and Toronto. Here’s a preview to get you set for three big tilts on the docket Tuesday, all featuring homegrown talent.
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MONTREAL MUST-SEE
Bouchard is playing her first match since her incredible run at Wimbledon, when she became the first-ever Canadian singles player to advance to a Grand Slam final. The 20-year-old opens her tournament at 6 p.m. ET against qualifier and world No. 113, Shelby Rogers.
It should be a cakewalk. Unless you’ve been sleeping for the past year, you know Bouchard has been crushing it this season. She’s ranked No. 8 in the world, won her first ATP tournament and advanced to the semis in both the Australian and French Opens before her historic showing at the All England Club.
Uniprix Stadium is going to be bonkers—not only has Bouchard quickly become a fan-favourite on tour and inspired a bunch of fans to start a Genie Army fan club (said fans, from Australia, will be there), but she’s also from the Montreal suburb, Westmount, so she’s playing in her backyard. It’ll be fun to watch.
Bouchard has never advanced past the second round of the Rogers Cup. Last year, while ranked 62nd in the world, she lost to Petra Kvitova. She and Rogers have met before, back in 2011, and Rogers won the match in three sets. We put huge money on the result being different Tuesday night.
So does World. No. 1 Serena Williams, who Bouchard could meet in the quarter-final.
TORONTO MUST-SEE
Canada’s recently crowned Wimbledon doubles champion Vasek Pospisil also makes his 2014 Rogers Cup debut today.
The 24-year-old from Vernon, B.C., is not only still basking in the glory of his win in England with American partner, Jack Sock, but he also earlier this week advanced to his first-ever ATP singles final. Unfortunately, he lost. Fortunately, fellow Canuck Milos Raonic won. It was the first all-Canadian final in ATP history in the Open Era.
Pospisil is No. 27 in the world, two off his career-high. He’ll face No. 12 in Frenchman Richard Gasquet. Good news: Pospisil beat Gasquet last week in Washington in the semi-final. More good news: They’ve played twice on Tour and Pospisil’s 2-0 against him.
Should he advance, Pospisil will be in tough against another Frenchman, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, whose serve was on fire Monday night in his straight sets defeat of Edouard Roger-Vasselin. Not that we want to get ahead of ourselves, but also on the Canadian’s side of the bracket is world No. 1, Novak Djokovic.
Pospisil will take them as they come, and it starts today at 3 p.m. ET.
ROGER’S RETURN
On the evening schedule in Toronto: Roger Federer. The Rogers Cup was Roger’s cup (get it?) in 2006 and 2004 (he won the tournament both those years), but he hasn’t played the Canadian stop since 2011.
Federer, world No. 2 and a couple days out from his 33rd birthday, opens action against Canada’s own Peter Polansky, who upset Poland’s Jerzy Janowicz in his first-round tilt Monday night, with a 7-6, 6-4 win.
If you missed the end of that match, it was a doozy. Polansky thought he’d won it, and fired a victory ball into the crowd and pumped his fist. Unbeknownst to him, his second serve was challenged and was out by maybe a millimetre. The Canadian had to re-do his second serve.
Polansky lost that point to bring it to deuce, but won the next two to close out the win.
“What a nerve-wracking experience that was,” he told Sportsnet’s Arash Madani.
Polansky is ranked No. 129 in the world. Federer is No. 2. “I’m really excited for [Tuesday] night,” Polansky said. We are, too. The match goes at 7 p.m. ET.
