Raonic wins, Sock loses in first round at Toronto

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TORONTO — Canada’s Milos Raonic got off to a strong start at the Rogers Cup, beating David Goffin of Belgium 6-3, 6-4 on Monday.

Raonic, who has fallen from No. 3 to No. 30 due to numerous injuries the past sto seasons – including a quad tear at Wimbledon last month – used his powerful serve to his advantage, firing 13 aces to Goffin’s two and won 100 percent of his first serves.

“I think I can still serve much better, I don’t think I served particularly well,” Raonic said. “So I’ll take the time to work on some things tomorrow but overall it was a good performance. Mentally I was in the right state of mind the whole way through and I was very disciplined with myself.”

He will next play the winner of a match between American Frances Tiafoe and Italy’s Marco Cecchinato.

Russian qualifier Daniil Medvedev upset 13th-seeded American Jack Sock 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in another first round match on a day play was interrupted for three hours due to rain.

In doubles, Novak Djokovic and Kevin Anderson defeated Canadian teens Denis Shapovalov and Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 6-2.

Shapovalov and Auger-Aliassime started the match strong before Djokovic and Anderson took control. They broke Anderson’s serve for a 2-0 lead, to the delight of a tightly packed grandstand crowd. However, the Wimbledon finalists team – nicknamed Djokerson thanks to a Twitter poll conducted by Djokovic earlier in the day – broke back to tie the match 2-2, and again to go up 5-3.

Anderson and Djokovic won five straight games, going up two breaks, to win the second set.

“Our game was there, we didn’t feel intimidated at all,” the 19-year-old Shapovalov said.

“Just to have a chance to play with these guys is already good,” added Auger-Aliassime, who won’t turn 18 until later this week.

In other singles matches, American Bradley Klahn topped Spain’s David Ferrer 7-6, 6-4; Pierre-Hughes Herbert of France got past Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas 4-6, 6-3, 6-4; Benoit Paire of France defeated Jared Donaldson 6-3, 6-4; Ilya Ivashka of Belarus beat Yuichi Sugita of Japan 6-2, 6-3; and Borna Coric of Croatia was a 6-4, 6-3 winnner over Canadian Vasek Pospisil in the late match on center court.

Also, 30-year-old Canadian Peter Polansky, a wild card entry playing in the morning draw, defeated Matthew Ebden of Australia 7-6 (3), 6-4. He will play the winner of a match between Djokovic and Hyeon Chung of South Korea in the second round.

Elena Rybakina hits 10 aces in Miami for 12th straight win

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MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Reigning Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina extended her winning streak to 12 matches by delivering 10 aces – her fourth consecutive outing with at least that many – in a 6-3, 6-0 victory over 25th-seeded Martina Trevisan on Tuesday in the Miami Open quarterfinals.

Rybakina has 46 aces through four matches at the hard-court tournament in Florida and a WTA-leading 201 this season.

The 23-year-old, who represents Kazakhstan, improved to 20-4 in 2023, including a run to the Australian Open final in January and a title at Indian Wells, California, last week.

She is trying to become only the fifth player to win the women’s trophies at Indian Wells and Miami in the same season. Top-ranked Iga Swiatek did it a year ago; she withdrew from Miami this time because of a rib injury.

“Of course it would be amazing to achieve something like that,” the 10th-seeded Rybakina said about the prospect of completing what’s known as the Sunshine Double, “but it’s still far away.”

So far in Rybakina’s career, 13 of her 18 semifinal appearances have come on hard courts. She will face No. 3 Jessica Pegula or No. 27 Anastasia Potapova for a berth in the final.

Trevisan reached the French Open semifinals in 2022.

In fourth-round men’s action Tuesday, No. 2 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas was beaten 7-6 (4), 6-4 by No. 14 Karen Khachanov, while defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, Taylor Fritz and Jannik Sinner all beat seeded opponents in straight sets.

Alcaraz, who returned to No. 1 in the ATP rankings last week, got past Australian Open semifinalist Tommy Paul 6-4, 6-4 to set up a meeting against Fritz, the top-ranked American man and seeded ninth in Miami.

Fritz compiled twice as many winners, 22, as unforced errors, 11, and only dropped serve once during a 6-3, 6-4 victory over No. 7 Holger Rune. That put Fritz into his first quarterfinal in seven appearances in Miami – and his first matchup against Alcaraz, a 19-year-old from Spain who won the U.S. Open in September for his first Grand Slam title.

“I’m really excited for it,” Fritz said. “I think that a lot of people are really excited for that, too.”

No. 10 Sinner eliminated No. 6 Andrey Rublev 6-2, 6-4 and has yet to drop a set in the tournament.

Sinner’s next opponent will be unseeded Emil Ruusuvuori, a 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 winner against No. 26 Botic van de Zandschulp.

Fritz, Sinner reach Miami Open quarterfinals with 2-set wins

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MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Taylor Fritz and Jannik Sinner beat seeded opponents in straight sets at the Miami Open to move into the quarterfinals.

No. 9 Fritz compiled twice as many winners, 22, as unforced errors, 11, and only dropped serve once during a 6-3, 6-4 victory over No. 7 Holger Rune.

That put Fritz, the highest-ranked American man, into his first quarterfinal in seven appearances at the hard-court tournament.

He will face either No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz or Australian Open semifinalist Tommy Paul next. Alcaraz is the defending champion in Miami.

No. 10 Sinner eliminated No. 6 Andrey Rublev 6-2, 6-4 and has yet to drop a set in the tournament.

Sinner’s next opponent will be No. 26 Botic van de Zandschulp or unseeded Emil Ruusuvuori.