Three to see: Canada Masters Day 3

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By Jake Davies

  • The three matches to see on Day 3 of the Canada Masters
  • Novak Djokovic [1] vs Gilles Muller
  • Gael Monfils [10] vs Vasek Pospisil
  • Grigor Dimitrov vs Denis Shapovalov [WC]
TORONTO, CANADA – Top seed and World No. 1 Novak Djokovic heads up Day Three’s three-to-see.

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Novak Djokovic [1] vs Gilles Muller H2H: 2-0 Djokovic

The top seeded Djokovic squares off with Luxembourg’s finest, Muller on Day 3 of the Canada Masters. This is Djokovic’s first competitive singles match since the sensational loss to Sam Querrey in the third round of Wimbledon.

The field is depleted in previous years because of the loaded schedule and the addition of the Rio Olympics in less than two weeks – Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Jo Wilfried Tsonga and Andy Murray are all previous winners of the event that pulled out beforehand. So the World No.1 is the clear favourite to win the title and will be looking to start sharply against a tricky opponent like Muller.

Muller is another example of a player that is playing his best tennis late into his 30’s, and benefited exclusively from working with Jamie Delgado. With Delgado’s help, Muller rose to No.33 in the ATP Rankings, but Muller still has not produced his highest levels when it matters most – at the majors.

Djokovic should win this. Muller has had a good grass court season and could make this competitive, but Djokovic will be eager to right the wrongs of his Wimbledon campaign.

Prediction: Djokovic in 2 tight sets.

Gael Monfils [10] vs Vasek Pospisil H2H: 2-0 Monfils

Monfils vs Pospisil could be a match that catches fire, because of the venue, the occasion and the players involved.

The Frenchman, now at No.14 in the world rankings, has just won the biggest title of his long career via winning the 500 level tournament in Washington.

Pospisil, on the other hand, has not experienced the greatest of results for quite some time. A niggling back injury really proved to be a considerable setback for the Canadian, and he has not really improved since his first real breakthrough at this very tournament in Canada in 2013, where he made the semi-finals.

Monfils will be too big a test for the Canadian. 21 Masters 1000 events have passed since Pospisil last won back-to-back main draw matches at this level and he is still quite far away from the form that guided him into the Top 25 of the singles game.

Prediction: Monfils in 2 sets.

Grigor Dimitrov vs Denis Shapovalov [WC] H2H: First meeting

The pick of the matches on Day 3 of the Canada Masters is this enticing encounter between Dimitrov and Shapovalov.

Both these players have something in common, they both have won the Wimbledon Juniors title. Dimitrov will feel he was extremely fortunate to come through his first round match against Yuichi Sugita, as he was two points away from defeat in the second set tiebreaker before winning in three sets.

Shapovalov will still feel in great spirits following a fantastic win over Nick Kyrgios, which effectively announced himself on the grandest stage of Men’s tennis.

Prediction: Shapovalov in 3 sets

Play starts at the Rogers Cup, Toronto at 11am (4pm BST).