Kokkinakis Shelton, Fritz, Paul, Cobolli, Thompson see round 16 victory in Montreal

Thanasi Kokkinakis saw off a sharky finish to beat last year’s quarter-finalist Gael Monfils 6-3, 6-3 on Wednesday at the Omnium Banque National présenté par Rogers.

The Greek who was losing the match at 5-1 when serving, regained composure to claim win. He will next take on fourth seed Hubert Hurkacz on Thursday.

Ben Shelton won a humorous first-round match against Alexander Bublik, his doubles partner, 7-6(4), 6-2. Alexei Popyrin, an Australian, is Shelton’s next opponent. Czech Tomas Machac was defeated by the Australian 6-3, 6-4.

Shelton’s compatriots Tommy Paul, who progressed to the semifinals of the Canadian ATP Masters 1000 event last year, Taylor Fritz, the ninth seed, and Brandon Nakashima all made it. Mariano Navone was defeated 6-4, 6-1 by 26-year-old Fritz.

Fritz’s next opponent will be fellow countryman and Washington champion Sebastian Korda, who defeated Vasek Pospisil 2-1 until the Canadian retired with a back ailment.

Paul, 27, defeated Luciano Darderi 6-4, 7-6(2). The 10th seed will play Nakashima in the second round after the latter defeated Denis Shapovalov, the local favorite, 6-4, 7-5.

Felix Auger-Aliassime’s homecoming was marred by Flavio Cobolli, who defeated the 14th seed 6-3, 6-2 on the eve of the Canadian’s 24th birthday. After making it to the Washington final the previous week, Cobolli, 22, arrived in Montreal at a career-high World No. 33 in the PIF ATP Rankings.

Ugo Humbert, seeded 12th, raced past fellow Frenchman Arthur Fils 6-2, 6-2 to improve to 10-2 against his countrymen since the start of 2023. The 26-year-old has defeated Fils three times in that same amount of time.

Croatian Borna Coric earned a 6-4, 6-4 win against Pedro Martinez, setting a second-round encounter against World No. 1 Jannik Sinner. It will mark the qualifier’s second meeting with the Italian. Sinner beat Coric in three sets at the 2022 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.

The in-form Jordan Thompson, who this week cracked the Top 30 for the first time, defeated Jack Draper 7-5, 6-2. Matteo Arnaldi rallied past Mackenzie McDonald 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina beat Roman Safiullin 6-2, 7-5.