Rogers Cup tennis: Milos Raonic ousted by Ivo Karlovic

Rogers Cup tennis: Milos Raonic ousted by Ivo Karlovic

There will be no repeat of the 2013 men's Rogers Cup when Canadians Milos Raonic and Vasek Pospisil delighted the Uniprix Stadium crowd by both reaching the semifinals.

Pospisil did his part, beating qualifier Lu Yen-Hsun 6-4, 6-3 in a first-round match at the $US4.1 million event on Tuesday.

But Raonic, in his first action in a month since returning from a pinched nerve in a foot, came out on the wrong end of a 7-6 (1), 7-6 (1) decision against Ivo Karlovic in a battle of towering sluggers.

Raonic, the eighth seed, was in his first match since Wimbledon in June. He had surgery to fix a pinched nerve in a foot in May.

"I think it's a factor," Raonic said of his inactivity. "Right now I'm just trying to get in as many matches as I can, sort of get that competitive comfort back.

"Things are going to work out when you play a few matches."

Raonic said his foot held up fine, but he still doesn't feel he is in top form.

"It's been just sort of my back. I think maybe subconsciously still protecting my foot, compensating," he said.

The defeat left Vasek Pospisil as the only Canadian left in the draw of either the men's or women's Rogers Cups.

"Yeah, it's very disappointing," said Raonic, of Thornhill, Ont. "I wish I could have done better today, given myself an opportunity to do better in the next round, just give myself a chance to progress."

"You take them as they come. A poor week this week doesn't mean it's a poor week next week."

Vernon, B.C., native Pospisil will try to keep his Rogers Cup going in the second round against American John Isner, the 16th seed who survived a 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-3 encounter with Benjamin Becker.

Isner was playing only two days after losing in the final of an event in Washington, D.C. to Kei Nighikori. He beat Pospisil in two sets in the round of 16 of that event, although the Canadian holds a 3-2 edge in their career head to head meetings.

"I played him enough times to know what to expect," said Pospisil. "He can say the same thing, I guess. So definitely that's a pretty open one."

Pospisil is on the way back from wrist trouble following a strong performance at Wimbledon, where he reached the quarter-finals.

"After winning (on Tuesday), I had a couple of flashbacks to 2013," said Pospisil, currently ranked 45th. "It was such a special week for me.

"But that's good. I can just take positive things from that. A deep run is definitely something that I want to achieve this week. That's kind of the goal."
Top-seeded Djokovic advances

Top-seeded Novak Djokovic took his second round match 6-3, 7-6 (4) over Thomasz Bellucci for his 250th career win a Masters 1000-level event. And defending champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, seeded 10th, got through the first round 6-4, 6-4 over Borna Coric.

Nick Kyrgios outlasted veteran Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 with his fellow Australian Lleyton Hewitt looking on. There are rumours that Hewitt is now coaching the 20-year-old, but Kyrgios said: "He's definitely not my coach, let's clear that up now. But he's definitely helped me out, which is really good."

He advanced to a second round meeting with third seeded Stan Wawrinka, who beat him earlier this year on a grass court.

It was a short Rogers Cup for Frank Dancevic of Niagara Falls, Ont. who lost 6-2, 6-4 to Pablo Andujar.

David Goffin, seeded 13th, made quick work of Steve Johnson 6-2, 6-2 when play began after a rain delay, and 14th seeded Grigor Dmitrov downed Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-4, 7-5.

Richard Gasquet, the 11th seed, withdrew with an illness.​