By Canadian Press

Nadal’s strongest Rogers Cup memory last year’s loss to Canada’s Shapovalov

Aug 3, 2018 | 4:51 PM

TORONTO — Rafael Nadal may have won the Rogers Cup three times, but it’s a recent upset loss that sticks in his mind the most.

Nadal won in 2005, 2008 and most recently in 2013, where he beat Canada’s Milos Raonic 6-2, 6-2, in Montreal. However, his strongest memory of playing in Canada was last year’s third round where he was upset by Denis Shapovalov, a wild-card entry in Montreal.

“It was a great feeling, playing Shapovalov. Not at the end,” said Nadal, who lost in three sets, to laughs. “It was a tough loss for me in that moment because it was a chance to become a world No. 1 again. Losing that match, I missed out on that chance.”

Shapovalov, who enters this year’s tournament as the top-ranked Canadian in the draw at No. 26 in the world, went on to lose to Germany’s Alexander Zverev in the semifinals. Zverev is the second seed this year.

Winning in 2008 is Nadal’s favourite Rogers Cup title because it put him atop the ATP Tour’s world rankings for the first time ever.

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He’s the top men’s player in the world again and was on hand as the singles brackets for the Rogers Cup were filled out on Friday afternoon. Even as the No. 1 seed for the event, he craned his neck to look at a screen behind him as name after name was filled in.

“I’m not the kind of guy that says ‘I don’t like to watch the draw, I just like to focus on the next match.’ No. I’m very normal,” said Nadal to more laughter. “No, I watch the draw. I like to see the full draw.”

Gesturing to the brackets behind him, Nadal listed off the players that he won’t have to face until later rounds, if he gets that far.

“I cannot think about Stan Wawrinka or Nick Kyrgios, before playing Benoit Paire or a qualifier,” said Nadal, whose first match will be against the winner of Paire’s first-round pairing against a qualifier. The qualifying tournament begins Saturday. “I know the first round is going to be a tough round. Watching the full draw won’t distract me from being focused on that first round.

“I like to see the matches in the first round. A couple of them are very interesting, in my opinion.”

Arguably the most interesting match in the first round is the one Nadal alluded to: Wawrinka versus Kyrgios.

Wawrinka, a three-time Grand Slam winner who is coming back from two operations on his left knee, was originally given a wild-card into qualifying but was advanced to the main draw when former world No. 1 Andy Murray withdrew. Kyrrgios is no slouch either, ranked 17th in the world and the 16th seed at the Rogers Cup.

The men’s tournament will be at Toronto’s Aviva Centre on York University’s campus starting on Monday. The women’s side runs in Montreal at the same time.

Shapovalov, from Richmond Hill, Ont., will face France’s Jeremy Chardy in the tournament’s first round. On the other side of the bracket, Raonic, from Thornhill, Ont., will take on 10th seed David Goffin of Belgium.

Vancouver’s Vasek Pospisil is in the same bracket as Shapovalov and will face Croatia’s Borna Coric. Peter Polansky of Thornhill will play Australia’s Matthew Ebden, and promising teenager Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal takes on 19th seed Lucas Pouille of France.

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John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press