Nadal and Djokovic defeated in Rogers Cup opener
No sooner had the pairing between the world’s top-two singles players been formed than it was over, with Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic losing in the first round of the Rogers Cup in Toronto.
While Nadal and Djokovic may be household names, their conquerors were a pair of relative unknowns, Canadian wildcards Vasek Pospisil and Milos Raonic who came from a set down to claim the 5-7, 6-3, 10-8 victory.
The partnership between the Spaniard and the Serb was the first time in 34 years that the world’s top-two ranked tennis players had joined forces in doubles, with Jimmy Connors and Arthur Ashe the last world No. 1 and No. 2 to do so, but the outcome provides a stark reminder that being the best in singles is no guarantee of success in singles.
While sisters Venus and Serena Williams have successfully teamed up to expand their Grand Slam title success to include the tramlines, theirs is a partnership that has had a lifetime to develop.
The doubles debut of team Nadal and Djokovic, however, has tripped at the first hurdle and one now has to wonder whether the experiment will be repeated any time in the future, despite each player’s obvious enthusiasm for the idea heading into the tournament.
“I like the idea,” Nadal said pre-match. “Doubles is an important part of the game and you can improve lots of parts of your game. Playing with Novak will be positive. I am excited. He is one of the most talented players in the world.”
It was excitement shared by their opponents, who must be pinching themselves after securing the win.
"It's definitely going to be the biggest match of my career, the best experience of my career," said Pospisil before the match, with a prescience of which he could hardly have been aware at the time.
Nadal and Djokovic will now be giving their full attention to claiming the Masters 1000 singles title, and if things go to plan for the top two seeds they could be facing off on opposite sides of the net come the final.
Djokovic will begin his campaign against Frenchman Julien Benneteau in the second round after receiving a first-round bye, while Nadal is waiting on the result of the match between Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka and Canadian wildcard Frank Dancevic to determine his opening opponent.
In the opening day’s singles action, 13th seed Jurgen Melzer was upset by another Canadian wildcard in Peter Polansky, while France’s Richard Gasquet fell to Sergiy Stakhovsky and 12th seed Mikhail Youzhny prevailed over world No. 32 Gilles Simon in straight sets.
Tags: