Novak Djokovic reaches Rogers Cup third round before Toronto rain

Wimbledon champion books third-round meeting with either Dominic Thiem or Stefanos Tsitsipas

Highlights as Novak Djokovic reaches the third round of the Rogers Cup

Novak Djokovic continued his charge for a fifth Rogers Cup title with a dominant straight-sets victory over Peter Polansky in Toronto.

The former world No 1, who made a winning return on Tuesday following his fourth Wimbledon title last month, defeated the Canadian wildcard 6-3 6-4 in 84 minutes to reach the third round.

Djokovic, whose last title in Canada came in 2016, will next meet either seventh-seed Dominic Thiem or Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Image: Novak Djokovic celebrates his victory over Peter Polansky in Toronto

After rain forced a delay to the start of play, the 13-time Grand Slam champion was in complete command of proceedings against the world No 121, firing seven aces and facing no break points as one break in each set proved decisive.

Djokovic, whose Wimbledon crown is his only title of the season, is now on a nine-match winning run, having started the year with a 6-6 record.

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Twenty minutes after the match had finished, heavy rain forced a suspension to play.

When play resumed Karen Khachanov completed an impressive 6-4 7-6 (7-3) victory over Spain's 12th seed and last year's US Open semi-finalist Pablo Carreno Busta.

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Third seed Juan Martin del Potro had earlier pulled out of the tournament prior to his second-round encounter with Robin Haase, citing a left wrist injury.

"Sorry to my fans in Toronto, but I have to pull out of the tournament since my left wrist needs some days of rest," Del Potro revealed in a tweet.

Haase backed up his first-round victory over Kei Nishikori with an assured 7-5 6-2 win against Russian veteran Mikhail Youzhny, who had entered the draw as Del Potro's late replacement.

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