The road to the US Open begins in earnest this week, with the Rogers Cup in Canada. The ATP’s Masters 1,000 event and WTA Premier 5 event alternate cities each year. 2018 sees the men play in Toronto and the women in Montreal. The fields are missing two GOAT’s, with Serena Williams and Roger Federer both sitting out this week. Andy Murray is also foregoing the trip to Canada after a draining and emotional week of rain-delayed play in Washington, DC. Otherwise, the draws are stacked. Let’s hope the injury bugs that infected DC and San Jose last week don’t travel to Canada to do further damage.
Milos Raonic vs. David Goffin
It’s been another injury-plagued year for the former Canadian number one, but Raonic finally got some momentum going during the grass court season. Milos made the final in Stuttgart and the quarters at Wimbledon. Raonic should feel comfortable playing in home country, as he was a finalist at the Rogers Cup five years ago. He’s split the previous four meetings with Goffin, three of which have gone to a final set. Their severe clash in styles leaves either player without a distinct advantage over the other. David has failed to follow-up on his stellar 2017 season. A freak eye injury forced him to miss a few tournaments earlier this season, and his form hasn’t recovered since. Raonic is poised to take back the title of Canadian number one this week unless Denis Shapovalov can back up his thrilling run to the semis from last year’s Rogers Cup. I expect Milos will do just that, and compile a few wins of his own this week in Toronto.
Venus Williams vs. Caroline Dolehide
It’s been a rough season for the 38-year-old legend, who is just 13-9 in 2018. With semifinal points in New York and finalist points in Singapore coming off her rankings tally in the next few months, Venus will likely go into 2019 unseeded at every tournament she plays unless she can save her year this summer. Just three days removed from a disappointing loss to Maria Sakkari in San Jose, Venus will face an up-and-coming American who is half her age and has a big game. Dolehide showed what she’s capable of earlier this year at Indian Wells, where she upset Dominika Cibulkova. Of course upsetting a top name from your own country, much less a player the stature of Venus Williams, is often a much more challenging type of pressure. Still, this first-ever meeting may be a tough test for Venus as she tries to get back on track.