MONTREAL — Gael Monfils downed Italy's Fabio Fognini in straight sets 6-3, 6-1 Monday as French players made a strong start to the Rogers Cup Men's Tennis Tournament. Monfils broke Fognini's serve four times in their first round match and finished with seven aces to Fognini's three. “I wanted to start off this tournament well,” said Monfils, who has yet to win a Grand Slam in his career. “It was not a great match, but I didn't play bad. I was solid. I didn't give away any points.” France's Gilles Simon was also in form, defeating Italy's Andreas Seppi in straight sets 6-2, 6-4. The final match of the day between France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Croatia's Borna Coric was postponed because of rain with Tsonga leading 2-1 in the first set. Monfils will next play Gilles Muller, who defeated Canada's Philip Bester 6-2, 6-3. “I'm looking forward to that match because I've known him for a long time,” said the 28-year-old Monfils. “I know he's a good player. He plays well. He's very aggressive and has a good serve.” Spain's Tommy Robredo needed three sets to top countryman Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. Robredo will face third-ranked Andy Murray in the second round. Bester struggled against Muller's powerful serve, but also had unforced errors throughout and never managed to break Muller's serve. Also Monday, Sam Querrey got past Martin Klizan 6-3, 6-3, Sergiy Stakhovsky overcame Filip Peliwo 6-1, 5-7, 6-2, Bernard Tomic downed Joao Sousa 6-3, 6-3, Thomaz Bellucci outlasted Pablo Cuevas 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (4), Ivo Karlovic defeated Jerzy Janowicz 6-4, 7-6 (6) and Leonardo Mayer eliminated Chung Hyeon 6-3, 6-4. Top-ranked Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal and Milos Raonic learned the identities of their second-round opponents Monday. Top seed Djokovic will start after the bye given to the leading eight seeds when he faces Bellucci. Djokovic, who has not touched a racket since beating Roger Federer for the Wimbledon title a month ago, will start in Canada with a 48-3 record that includes six titles in 2015, including the Australian Open crown. Murray, seeded second and champion in 2010 and 2011, warmed up for his singles start by reaching the doubles second round alongside India's 42-year-old Leander Paes. The one-off pairing beat Kevin Anderson and Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-1 as Murray began finding his feet on the hardcourts after an opening singles loss last week in Washington to Russian Teimuraz Gabashvili. In singles, the Scot will face Robredo. Nadal and fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco joined in the week's doubles lark, defeating 2014 Wimbledon doubles champion Jack Sock and Czech Tomas Berdych 6-3, 5-7, 10-6. Nadal now must concentrate on a singles start against Stakhovsky. Raonic will test himself against Ivo Karlovic. — Agencies
