Toronto R1 previews and predictions: Davidovich Fokina vs. Wolf, Hurkacz vs. Bublik

The first day of the Rogers Cup in Toronto kicks off with a showdown between Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and J.J. Wolf. Hubert Hurkacz will also be in action against Alexander Bublik.

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina vs. J.J. Wolf

This is one of the more intriguing first round matches in Toronto. American J.J. Wolf, ranked 45 in the world, has had two good hard court tournament results in a row. The 24 year-old posted a semifinal showing at the Atlanta Open last week and made the quarters in Washington. His consistency is showing some improvement and his game is clicking into place on hards.

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina has been a little off his game since he had a few decent results during the European clay swing. The world No. 39 elected to stay in Europe on clay post-Wimbledon rather than come to North America, but he only won 1 match total between Bastad and Hamburg.

The Spaniard is generally a decent hard court player, but Wolf is actually in better form at the moment. Davidovich Fokina also hasn’t played on hards since the Miami Masters, and while Wolf has played a lot of tennis recently, fatigue shouldn’t be a factor just yet.

Cheryl pick – Wolf in 3

(15) Hubert Hurkacz vs. Alexander Bublik

Hubert Hurkacz has historically proven to be an unkind matchup for Alexander Bublik. The player from Kazakhstan has won just 1 of their six previous matches – and that was way back in 2020 in their first meeting. Bublik, whose ranking is a career high 25 in the world thanks to a fantastic grass court season, is playing his first event since his round of 16 run at Wimbledon.

Poland’s Hurkacz is ranked 17 in the world. He also made the round of 16 at Wimbledon, but he crashed into Novak Djokovic. Hurkacz’s serve gave Djokovic some difficulty over their 4-set match, but he wasn’t able to hold up in the tiebreakers.

Bublik’s game can go off the boil at any time, and Hurkacz’s big-serving style of play is the sort that will prey on players like Bublik, since one errant service game often means losing the set. Look for Hurkacz to slide into the second round.

Cheryl pick – Hurkacz in 2