Juan Martin del Potro has withdrawn from the Rogers Cup with a left wrist injury. The Argentine was scheduled to play Robin Haase on Wednesday and will be replaced by lucky loser Mikhail Youzhny. Del Potro – ranked No. 3 in the men’s singles draw – has battled wrist injuries throughout his career, missing significant time in 2014 after undergoing surgery on his left wrist. The 29-year-old lost in the final of the Rogers Cup in 2009. He was on a potential course to meet with Canadian Denis Shapovalov in Round 3, had both players won their second-round matches on Wednesday. Shapovalov, who beat del Potro at last year’s event in Montreal, plays Fabio Fognini.<doc-sep>The Rogers Cup is definitely one of the most important tournaments of Juan Martin del Potro's career. Here, nine years ago in 2009, the Argentinean reached the final in Montreal, then a few weeks later he would win his first Grand Slam title at the US Open. Recalling that edition, during his pre-tournament press conference on Tuesday del Potro said: 'It was one of my best tournaments I've been playing in my career. I remember that I beat Andy Roddick and Rafael Nadal, and then I lost against Murray in the finals, which is a tough draw. But now the situation is completely different. I'm playing good. I'm in the No. 4 in the world. And I have the chance to keep improving my ranking this week, but, if not, I will be happy anyways. But I try to stay calm and just play my game.' But after 2009 many bad things happened for del Potro, including three surgeries. Commenting on his tough times, the 29-year-old stated: 'Three years ago I considered to quit tennis, to stop to play because I had been suffering a lot of -- I was depressed for a couple of months because I couldn't find a way to fix the wrist problems. But now you can imagine how happy I am playing tennis again and being in the top 5 position again after a long time, winning titles, playing my best tennis ever maybe. I'm having one of my best seasons this year, and it's amazing. I never expected to be in this moment again after all my problems. So I just want to keep enjoying this second chance of the tennis life.' Del Potro also reflected on his mental strength: 'I think mentally was my biggest improvement during these last years. I've been working hard in my mind dealing with some pains with my wrist, different injuries that I had in the past. And that makes me strong enough to survive and to keep trying every day. But then my tennis improves a little bit more. My physical shape is good. And I think I'm in the good moment to go for the goals that I want to reach.' ALSO READ: 'Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal': Tsitsipas reveals who admires the most<doc-sep>Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window) TORONTO — Four-time champion Novak Djokovic advanced to the third round of the Rogers Cup on Wednesday, defeating Canadian wild card Peter Polansky 6-3, 6-4. Djokovic, coming off his fourth Wimbledon title last month, fired seven aces and never faced a break point in the 1-hour, 25-minute match. A former world No. 1, Djokovic is seeded ninth at the Toronto tournament. He last won the Rogers Cup in 2016. It was only the second time the two veteran players had met and the first in nine years. Djokovic beat Polansky at a Rogers Cup in 2009. Heavy morning rain delayed the match by about an hour. Milos Raonic of Canada was scheduled to follow Djokovic’s win on center court, but that match was delayed by rain. Top seed Rafael Nadal of Spain had the prime court to open the evening session. Earlier Wednesday, tournament officials announced that Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina had withdrawn from the Rogers Cup with 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 said in a tweet. Del Potro, who had a bye in the first round, was set to play Robin Haase of the Netherlands on Wednesday. Haase instead faced Russian veteran Mikhail Youzhny, who pulled out of his second-round qualifying match on Sunday. Polansky, a 30-year-old from nearby Thornhill, Ontario, reached a career-high No. 110 in June but entered the week at No. 121. “I thought it went really well out there,” said Polansky, who’s never made it past the second round of a Rogers Cup. “6-3, 6-4, (it was) probably a little closer than the score line said. I’ll take it as a good experience and look forward to the next event.” Canada’s Daniel Nestor, the oldest player at the tournament at 45, was scheduled to play a first-round doubles match in the late afternoon. Nestor is retiring following the Davis Cup in September. He will have played in 30 Rogers Cups since his first as a 16-year-old wild card in 1989.<doc-sep>Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images Plenty of star power took the court Wednesday at the 2018 Rogers Cup, with Maria Sharapova, Sloane Stephens, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal all on the schedule. The men's draw from Toronto and women's draw from Montreal can be found on Rogers Cup's official website with second-round action dominating the day as some of the biggest names in the sport attempted to set up marquee matchups in later rounds. Here is a look at all of Wednesday's scores and some of the notable results. Men's Wednesday Scores (6) Marin Cilic defeats Borna Coric, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 Robin Haase defeats Mikhail Youzhny, 7-5, 6-2 Karen Khachanov defeats (12) Pablo Carreno Busta, 6-4, 7-6 (3) (5) Grigor Dimitrov defeats Fernando Verdasco, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (5) Video Play Button Videos you might like Ilya Ivashka defeats Ryan Harrison, 7-6 (5), 6-4 (9) Novak Djokovic defeats Peter Polansky, 6-3, 6-4 Denis Shapovalov defeats (14) Fabio Fognini, 6-3, 7-5 (8) John Isner defeats Pierre-Hugues Herbert, 7-6 (3), 6-2 Frances Tiafoe defeats Milos Raonic, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-1 Stefanos Tsitsipas defeats (7) Dominic Thiem, 6-3, 7-6 (6) (1) Rafael Nadal defeats Benoit Paire, 6-2, 6-3 (2) Alexander Zverev defeats Bradley Klahn, 6-4, 6-4 (4) Kevin Anderson defeats Evgeny Donskoy, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (0) Stan Wawrinka defeats Marton Fucsovics, 1-6, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (10) (11) Diego Schwartzman defeats Sam Querrey, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 Daniil Medvedev defeats Felix Auger-Aliassime, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7) Women's Wednesday Scores Maria Sharapova defeats (12) Daria Kasatkina, 6-0, 6-2 (6) Caroline Garcia defeats Magdalena Rybarikova, 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 Alize Cornet defeats (4) Angelique Kerber, 6-4, 6-1 (15) Ashleigh Barty defeats Alison Van Uytvanck, 7-6 (7), 6-2 Kiki Bertens defeats (9) Karolina Pliskova, 6-2, 6-2 (8) Petra Kvitova defeats Anett Kontaveit, 6-3, 6-4 (10) Julia Goerges defeats Lucie Safarova, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 Carla Suarez Navarro defeats Lesia Tsurenko, 6-4, 3-2 (3) Sloane Stephens defeats Francoise Abanda, 6-0, 6-2 (5) Elina Svitolina defeats Mihaela Buzarnescu, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 4-3 (14) Elise Mertens defeats Shuai Zhang, 6-2, 6-7 (2), 6-0 Anastasija Sevastova defeats Monica Puig, 4-6, 7-6 (9), 6-1 Notable Results While Stephens, Sharapova, Elina Svitolina and a number of other highly seeded and regarded players took care of business on the women's side Wednesday, the day did not unfold completely according to plan. The fourth-seeded Angelique Kerber and ninth-seeded Karolina Pliskova each lost in straight sets in similar fashion, with the serve letting them down. Alize Cornet eliminated Kerber, 6-4, 6-1, and notched both aces of the match while taking advantage of lackluster play from her opponent. Kerber won an ugly 46 percent of her first-service points and was unable to set the pace when she had the ball on her racket. Pliskova faced a similar fate, as Kiki Bertens cruised past her, 6-2, 6-2, because of poor service from the higher seed. Pliskova didn't finish with an ace and had an unseemly eight double-faults. Bertens also prevented consistent break opportunities for her opponent, winning 77 percent of her first-service points compared to only 50 percent for Pliskova. The No. 9 seed had little trouble on the men's side, as Djokovic handled Peter Polansky in straight sets and kept the possibility of a Djokovic and Nadal final alive and well in a tournament that doesn't feature Roger Federer. He will have to get past Stefanos Tsitsipas, who stunned seventh-seeded Dominic Thiem, in the next round before worrying about Nadal, but he looked up to the challenge Wednesday with an impressive performance. Djokovic had all seven aces in the match and won a dominant 83 percent of his first-service points. "I thought I served well in the moments when I really need it and I was looking for the first serve," Djokovic said, per the ATP World Tour's website. "I thought I found pretty good accuracy and angles with the first serve, and also my second serve worked pretty well. Overall my game was so-and-so. In the moments when I probably needed to step it up, I did." His ability to control the pace of play with his serve kept Polansky fighting an uphill battle throughout the match, and the Canadian was never able to overcome. Nadal also controlled play in his straight-sets victory over Benoit Paire, although he was much less effective with his serve. He didn't tally a single ace and won only 58 percent of his first-service points, but he was able to take advantage of opportunities on the other side by winning 75 percent of his break points. Statistics via the Rogers Cup unless otherwise noted.<doc-sep>
World number 4 and one of the best players of the season so far Juan Martin del Potro has withdrawn from the Rogers Cup in Toronto in order to rest his left wrist. The sixth Masters 1000 event of the season was never the favorite one for the Argentinian, reaching the final in 2009 but scoring just seven wins overall from six participations. With Alexander Zverev having to defend 1000 points in Canada, Juan Martin had a great chance to pass him on the list and become world number 3 for the first time in his career but that will have to wait for some other opportunity. The 29-year-old Grand Slam and Masters 1000 champion had found the right form in the closing stages of the previous season and he continued in the same style so far in 2018, reaching the final in Auckland and winning Acapulco at the beginning of March. The best was yet to come as Delpo claimed his first Masters 1000 title at Indian Wells, saving match points against Roger Federer in the final for his career-best result at this level, reaching the semis in Miami as well. He went to Roland Garros with just two clay wins this spring but that was hardly an obstacle, defeating John Isner and Marin Cilic en route to the semi-final where he lost to Rafael Nadal in straight sets. The same rivals have met in the quarter-final at Wimbledon and it was one of the best matches of the season, with Rafa prevailing after four hours and 48 minutes. Last week, del Potro played in the final of Los Cabos, losing to Fabio Fognini and not playing at his best so it was probably the best decision to skip Toronto and get more rest before Cincinnati and the US Open. The Russian veteran Mikhail Youzhny will have a chance to play in the main draw as a lucky loser. ALSO READ: 2018 ITF World Junior Tennis: USA boys and girls march on