Zverev, Rune and Musetti win in Canadian Open opener

Top seed Alexander Zverev began his Canadian Open campaign by ousting Adam Walton 7-6(6), 6-4, during which the 28-year-old survived a lung-busting exchange to crucially earn set point in the opener.
After trailing 3/5 in the tie-break, Zverev seized momentum following that lengthy rally at 5/5 and found more rhythm from the baseline to advance. Zverev was broken when he served for the match at 5-3, yet quickly regrouped to close out the one-hour, 42-minute match the following game, ATP reports.
A seven-time ATP Masters 1000 champion, including a triumph in Canada in 2017, the No. 3 player in the ATP Rankings will continue his quest to add to that haul against 32nd seed Matteo Arnaldi, who defeated Australian Tristan Schoolkate 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. Zverev leads Arnaldi 1-0 in their ATP head-to-head series, with their lone meeting coming in Acapulco this year.
Eighth seed Casper Ruud, competing in just his second tournament since Roland Garros, raced past Roman Safiullin 6-3, 6-3. The Norwegian next faces Nuno Borges, who rallied past Argentine qualifier Facundo Bagnis 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-2.
After withdrawing from his opener in Washington last week due to back pain, Holger Rune returned to claim a 7-6(7), 6-3 victory in Toronto, his first hard-court win since reaching the Indian Wells final in March. Meanwhile, Daniil Medvedev overcame lucky loser Dalibor Svrcina 7-6(3), 6-4, but the 2021 champion is looking for more out of his game.
Lorenzo Musetti, who is sixth in the Live Race and aiming to debut at the ATP Finals, also came through his opening Toronto test in straight sets, beating James Duckworth 7-5, 6-1. With his win, the 23-year-old Italian snapped a three-match losing streak after first-round exits in Wimbledon and Washington.
Musetti will next play Alex Michelsen, who edged Tomas Barrios Vera 7-6(7), 6-3 in a tense second-round clash.
Gauff battles past Collins; Ito stuns Paolini in Montreal
Top seed Coco Gauff survived a tough battle against Danielle Collins after nearly three hours at Canadian Open to earn her first match win since winning Roland Garros in June.
Gauff was two points away from defeat in the third set of her eventual 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(2) win, as Collins wiped away deficits of 2-0 and 4-2 over the last 80 minutes of the match. But the elder of the two Americans never reached match point, and lost nine of the last 11 points played inside IGA Stadium, WTA reprots.
Gauff will face another former Top 10 player, Veronika Kudermetova next. The former World No. 9 was a 6-4, 6-2 winner over No. 29 seed Olga Danilovic in the second round.
Having announced herself by reaching the Osaka semifinals on home soil in her WTA debut last October, Ito backed that up with her first WTA 125 title in Canberra to start 2025 and broke into the Top 100 in May. However, she had not won a tour-level match this season until her first-round win over Katie Volynets this week — also her first victory in a WTA 1000 main draw, according WTA.
Elsewhere, Japanese qualifier Aoi Ito pulled off the biggest upset, knocking out No. 7 seed Jasmine Paolini 2-6, 7-5, 7-6(5) in 2 hours and 27 minutes. The World No. 110 had trailed by a set and 4-1, and saved one match point down 5-4 in the second set.
Ito will next play Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in the third round.
Earlier, Bianca Andreescu withdrew from her second-round match at her home WTA 1000 event due to a left ankle injury. Her opponent, No. 4 seed Mirra Andreeva, advances to the third round via walkover.