Dutch shocks for Zverev, Medvedev as seeds fall in Canadian Open

MONTREAL: Alexander Zverev and Daniil Medvedev ⁠both suffered upsets against Dutch opponents in the second round of the Canadian ​Open on Wednesday, while ​fellow title contender Taylor Fritz also crashed out in Montreal.
World number three Zverev, playing his first match since losing to Jannik Sinner in last month's Wimbledon final, was beaten 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-4 by Tallon Griekspoor, who arrived in Canada with one win in his last ⁠eight tour-level matches.
The defeat comes as a setback to the German's preparations ⁠for the US Open, which begins on August 30.
'I've been very close to throwing in the towel a couple of times,' world number 69 Griekspoor said after claiming his ‌third victory over French Open champion Zverev.
'I've ​been working harder and ⁠harder lately and I've reached quite a good level ​in practice over the past couple ‌of weeks.
'I felt like it was just a matter of time. This one is special, especially against ​a player like Sascha.'
Fourth seed Medvedev lost 6-3, 7-6(5) to Botic van de Zandschulp, who scored his first win over the 2021 US Open champion.
'I played him a couple of times, and it has always been tough,' said the Dutchman. 'I never beat ‌him before, but today ... I had to change it up, go out ​of my comfort zone and I think I did it well.'
After winning his ​biggest ‌title ⁠in nearly four years at the Washington Open last week, US seventh seed Fritz lost 7-5, 6-3 to Argentine Thiago Agustin Tirante.
Their departures left the ​ATP 1000 event with just four of the top ⁠10 seeds still ​in the draw. Sixth seed Flavio Cobolli and 10th seed Andrey Rublev lost their opening matches while fifth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime pulled out with a back injury.
World number one Sinner and 24-times Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic ​decided to skip the US Open tune-up tournament, while world number ​two Carlos Alcaraz is nursing a wrist injury that also ruled him out of the Cincinnati Open. — Reuters