Djokovic now looks a shoe-in for Montreal victory

Novak Djokovic may not have been the guaranteed winner of the Rogers Cup ahead of the start of the tournament, but with Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray all out before the quarter finals, the event is certainly the world number one’s to lose.

Djokovic is 8/15 in the tennis odds to win in Montreal, which represents his first tournament since his Wimbledon final triumph over Nadal and his first proper hard court preparation ahead of the US Open.

This five-week absence since Wimbledon was one reason for the slight doubts over Djokovic, particularly with it being obligatory that all of the top players in the world would be in action in Montreal, assuming they were not injured.

However, Murray fell at his first hurdle against Kevin Anderson, Nadal then followed in his opener against Ivan Dodig and then Federer lost in the third round against Jo Wilfried Tsonga.

Djokovic has still only lost one match all year and with hard courts typically being his favoured surface, it is virtually impossible to see him being beaten in Canada.

The next player to try their luck in the quarter finals is Gael Monfils, although the chances do not look good for the Frenchman as he has lost all of his previous six meetings with Djokovic.

Djokovic is 1/12 to beat Monfils and 1/4 to win in straight sets for the third hard-court meeting in succession.

Tsonga then potentially awaits in the last four and is arguably the biggest challenge left to the Serbian in the tournament, particularly after their entertaining semi-final showdown at Wimbledon.

Berdych is perhaps the most likely to reach the final from the other side of the draw, but his record against Djokovic reads as only one win from seven previous meetings and this was on grass.

Assuming that Djokovic’s fitness is able to cope with the demands of the tournament, then it is virtually impossible seeing him getting beaten in Montreal, despite the upsets that have already been witnessed.