German Florian Mayer defeated Bernard Tomic 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 on Monday, ending the Australian’s chances of playing top seed Novak Djokovic at the ATP Montreal Masters.
Tomic, who was knocked out in the second round of the Washington tournament last week by eventual champion Juan Martin del Potro, complained of windy conditions but was more upset with his own lack of initiative after winning the opening set of the first-round encounter.
He will now have to hit the practice courts after missing a chance to build up some valuable hardcourt experience before the start of the U.S. Open in three weeks.
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The Australian No. 1, ranked 41st in the world, got off to a good start but could not maintain his form against the experienced German.
“I was up 5-2 in the first set and should have closed it out in the second,” said Tomic. “In the second set I didn't start that well. My concentration dropped and he played well.”
Tomic managed only two aces and lost his serve four times.
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“Florian is one of those guys who plays well once he gets his nose ahead,” he said.
“In the first set he was tight but in the second I missed my opportunities and didn’t focus very well — he took over then.”
World No. 1 Djokovic has beaten Mayer in all five of their meetings including the first round of Wimbledon in June.
Croatian Ivan Dodig crushed Grega Zemlja of Slovenia 6-1, 6-1 to set up a meeting with the in-form del Potro.
Wickmayer advances
Meanwhile in Toronto, Belgian Yanina Wickmayer defeated American lucky loser Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 to book a second-round meeting with third-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland in the WTA Canadian Open.
The results:
At Montreal: ATP Montreal Masters: First round: Florian Mayer bt Bernard Tomic 5-7, 6-3, 6-3; Ivan Dodig bt Grega Zemlja 6-1, 6-1; Andreas Seppi bt Lukas Rosol 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(4); Pablo Andujar bt Amir Weintraub 6-1, 7-6(5); Ernests Gulbis bt Feliciano Lopez 7-6(4), 6-4; Marinko Matosevic bt Benjamin Becker 6-2, 6-3; Martin Klizan bt Thomaz Bellucci 5-7, 6-4, 7-6(6); Kei Nishikori bt Peter Polansky 4-6, 6-4, 6-2; Denis Istomin bt Janko Tipsarevic 6-4, 6-3; Benoit Paire bt Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-6(1), 7-5; Jesse Levine bt Xavier Malisse 6-4, 7-6(4).
At Toronto: WTA Canadian Open: First round: Kiki Bertens bt Alison Riske 6-4, 1-6, 6-3; Varvara Lepchenko bt Ayumi Morita 6-3, 6-1; Yanina Wickmayer bt Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-4, 2-6, 6-4; Mona Barthel bt Jie Zheng 6-7(3), 6-3, 7-6(1); Dominika Cibulkova bt Jana Cepelova 7-5, 6-4; Flavia Pennetta bt Urszula Radwanska 6-3, 3-6, 6-2; Sorana Cirstea bt Olga Savchuk 6-2, 6-3; Roberta Vinci bt Julia Goerges 2-6, 6-4, 6-3; Klara Zakopalova bt Lucie Safarova 5-7, 6-3, 6-1; Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova bt Carol Zhao 6-1, 6-3; Sloane Stephens bt Kristina Mladenovic 6-2, 7-6(5).