After an action packed opening day at the 2023
Canadian Open also known as National Bank Open in Toronto, attention turns to Day Two with the
schedule and
preview set.
Some big names are in action and their opening ties will be in this preview as TennisUpToDate takes you through the big Canadian Open talking points.
Murray, Zverev, Ruud to begin campaigns
Andy Murray will start proceedings off at 12:30pm local time (18:30 CET) when he faces off against Lorenzo Sonego. It is a tie which has been played this year already on outdoor hard.
The former World No.1 won in Doha 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(4). He played in Washington last week and reached the Last 16 losing narrowly to Taylor Fritz so is still in form heading into the hard court swing.
Sonego has played solely European Clay. He lost to Stan Wawrinka in the semi-finals in Umag and first round to Albert Ramos-Vinolas in Gstaad.
Alexander Zverev who is 13th seed on the other hand is a recent champion winning in Hamburg for the first time since his comeback. But faces a player in form on this surface.
Tallon Griekspoor was in rampaging form last week in Washington before coming up against
Dan Evans who also plays today losing out in the final. But with both in winning form, it could be Match of the Day.
So could rising Jiri Lehecka who faces
Casper Ruud. The latter reached 100 consecutive weeks inside the top 10 this week and is the third seed this week.
With the absence of Novak Djokovic, he has been elevated. He holds one win over the Czech ace in Gstaad last year, but like Sonego and Zverev has mostly played European Clay, his favorite surface.
Korda, Shelton-Mirallas and De Minaur-Norrie among clashes on outer courts
So what are other clashes to check out today in Toronto? Among them is similar to Gael Monfils - Christopher Eubanks yesterday in being pure entertainment.
That being
Ben Shelton facing Bernabe Zapata Mirallas, the winner gets Carlos Alcaraz. Both have produced some of their best tennis so far this year, with the former on his European odyssey returning to the States ahead of the US Open for the first time since turning pro.
On a conveyor belt of American talent, Alex Michelsen could be the next recently turning pro, but Shelton has now blazed a trail.
While a duo of Brits will also play. Like alluded to Dan Evans will be involved facing Gabriel Diallo after the biggest title of his career in Washington.
Cameron Norrie also faces Alex de Minaur in a standout tie.
Of course De Minaur technically having British interest too and aiming to join his girlfriend, Katie Boulter in the next round.
Other ties include
Sebastian Korda, the lean, mean machine returning too and he faces Tomas Martin Etcheverry. Other game on Grandstand sees Ugo Humbert face Nicolas Jarry. A superb day of tennis ahead.
Tuesday, August 08, 2023 | | | | |
Day 4 | | | | |
Center Court Starts At 12:30 Pm | | | | |
R64 | Lorenzo Sonego | VS | Andy Murray | |
Not Before 2:00 Pm | | | | |
R64 | Alexander Zverev | VS | Tallon Griekspoor | |
Not Before 7:00 Pm | | | | |
R64 | Felix Auger-Aliassime | VS | Max Purcell | |
Followed By | | | | |
R32 | Jiri Lehecka | VS | Casper Ruud | |
Grandstand Starts At 11:00 Am | | | | |
R64 | Tomas Martin Etcheverry | VS | Sebastian Korda | |
Followed By | | | | |
R64 | Ugo Humbert | VS | Nicolas Jarry | |
Followed By | | | | |
R64 | Alex de Minaur | VS | Cameron Norrie | |
Not Before 3:00 Pm | | | | |
R64 | Gabriel Diallo | VS | Daniel Evans | |
Followed By | | | | |
R64 | Ben Shelton | VS | Bernabe Zapata Miralles | |