Off-the-boil Fritz hangs on for Toronto win

Taylor Fritz beat approaching rain in a 7-5, 7-6 (1) defeat of Roberto Carballes Baena on Wednesday to win a tough opening match at the ATP Montreal Masters.

The second seed confessed that he has felt uncomfortable in the Canadian conditions and expressed frustration at the state of his game 

“Everything is not feeling great, it’s tough to control the ball.

“Since I’ve been here it’s been absolutely brutal. But I have another match to figure it out and hopefully I can play myself into the tournament.”

The second-round match was halted three times by rain, with the final pause lasting 18 minutes and delaying the start of the second-set tiebreaker.

But the seed wasted no time in the decider, running out the winner and getting off the court to ponder immediate improvements to his form

He advanced despite 45 unforced errors. “Even in practice I’m having a hard time putting the ball into the court. But I’m happy to get through this one.”

Fritz was joined in the second round by fellow American seeds Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe.

No. 6 Shelton finally beat Frenchman Adrian Mannarino after two defeats, advancing 6-2, 6-3.

“This win was huge for me. He’s a shotmaker, he can take the racquet out of your hands,” he said after going through in less than an hour. “I’ve played well against him in the past and come up short, he can make things really difficult.”

Tiafoe needed well over two hours to eliminate Japan’s No. 158 Yosuke Watanuki  1-6, 7-5, 7-6 (5) in a battle of huge hitting.

“He can hit a winner on any shot, I needed some luck in those last two sets to win,” he said.

Tiafoe now plays Alexsandar Vukic, who defeated Briton Cam Norrie 6-3, 6-7 (2/7), 6-3.

There was another disaster showing for Stefanos Tsitsipas, with the one-time top 10 player losing 6-4. 4-6, 6-2 loss to  Australian Christopher O’Connell

Tsitsipas, fighting to emerge from a slump, announced he will return to coaching by his father Apostolos after an unsuccessful trial with Goran Ivanisevic.

Washington champion Alex de Minaur stopped Francisco Comesana 6-4, 6-2 in a battle for survival 72 hours after winning in the American capital.

“It was not pretty by any means,” the Australian said. “The wind and rain made it quite tough. I’m happy I was engaged and focused from the first point to the last.

“Backing up a good week is the toughest ask in tennis. You don’t have a lot of time to enjoy the moment after a week of emotional highs.

“You have to find a way to re-set: and do it all over again.”