Day 3 at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Montreal will see the debut of many of the seeds, including world #1 and defending champion Jannik Sinner, who faces a potentially tricky opponent in Borna Coric, and Grigor Dimitrov, who is back in action after getting injured at Wimbledon and skipping the Olympic games.
ATP Montreal Day 3 Predictions
Grigor Dimitrov vs Rinky Hijikata
Head-to-head: Dimitrov 1-0 Hijikata
Dimitrov won with relative ease when the pair faced earlier this year in Brisbane and on paper the same should happen here. However, Dimitrov hasn’t played since getting injured during the first set of his match against Daniil Medvedev at Wimbledon so there’s obviously questions regarding how fit he is and what kind of level he will bring. Under normal circumstances, he should prevail here, though.
Prediction: Dimitrov in 2
Tommy Paul vs Brandon Nakashima
Head-to-head: Nakashima 3-1 Paul
Nakashima might lead this head to head, but Paul has been improving at a very rapid pace, flirting with the top 10 after several great runs in big tournaments, most recently at Wimbledon and the Olympics, where he was only stopped by Carlos Alcaraz. Last year in Canada he had a fantastic run, beating Alcaraz to reach his first ever Masters 1000 semifinal, where he lost to Jannik Sinner. He reached two more Masters 1000 semifinals in 2024, showing that he has the level of a top 10 player. Nakashima on the other hand hasn’t really progressed much recently and despite a good performance against Shapovalov in the first round he should be outmatched here.
Prediction: Paul in 3
Jannik Sinner vs Borna Coric
Head-to-head: Sinner 1-0 Coric
Sinner won his first ever Masters 1000 title in Canada last year, starting his ascent to #1 in the world, and he will be looking to do it again this year. His first round is potentially tricky; despite his ranking, Coric is a very dangerous player when he is on his game, as rare as that is. He has been playing well so far in Canada, making his way through qualifying and winning the first round, and could definitely cause Sinner a lot of issues here.
Prediction: Sinner in 3
Main Photo Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
