On Wednesday afternoon at IGA Stadium, four-time Rogers Cup presented by National Bank champion Rafael Nadal jumped into the third round with a win over the surprising Daniel Evans of the UK.
Despite the three rain delays, the top seed closed the match out at 7-6 (6), 6-4, securing his 378th Masters 1000 win and tying Roger Federer’s record. Rafa already holds the record for the most Masters 1000 titles with 34 crowns—one more than Novak Djokovic.
The showers and the fact that the face-off marked Nadal’s return to the hard courts following the clay and grass seasons may explain why the match was a bit of an uphill battle. He only managed to hit 58% of his first serves in but redeemed himself with his excellent second serves. The World No. 53, who refused to go down without a fight, capitalized on two of his three opportunities to break the King of Clay.
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