Thursday, 8 August 2019:
 | | JOHN MILLMAN of Australia returns the ball during his men's singles quarter-final match against Novak Djokovic of Serbia of the US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City. | |
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John Millman has been eliminated from the Canadian Open in straight sets by Marin Cilic, ending Australian hopes at the tournament.
The 30-year-old was no match for the 14th-seeded Croatian, who dispatched him 6-3 6-4 in just one hour and 15 minutes, which included a rain relay, in Montreal on Thursday.
Cilic will play the either second seed Dominic Thiem or local hope Denis Shapovalov in the third round.
Millman had made a decent run as the lone Australian male to make the second round after losing in the qualifiers.
Compatriots Alex de Minaur, Jordan Thompson and Nick Kyrgios were all knocked out of the opening round on Wednesday.
Australian world No.1 Ashleigh Barty was upset by American Sofia Kenin 6-7 (7-5) 6-3 6-4 in the second round after she had a first round bye, while compatriot Ajla Tomljanovic withdrew on Wednesday.
This result, Barty's second successive defeat after winning 15 matches in a row including the French Open, puts her top ranking in jeopardy.
Japan's Naomi Osaka, the reigning US Open and Australian Open champion, will regain the No.1 perch if she defeats German qualifier Tatjana Maria in her second round match at Toronto on Thursday.
In other men's matches, Japanese fifth-seed Kei Nishikori was knocked out by French world No.66 Richard Gasquet 6-7 (8-6) 6-2 7-6 (7-4) in a three-hour epic.
Gasquet will face the winner of Spanish 10th-seed Roberto Bautista Agut and Argentina's Diego Schwartzman in the third round.
Spanish world No.2 Rafael Nadal defeated British No.2 Dan Evans, who knocked out De Minaur in the first round, 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 in just under two hours.
World No.5 Alexander Zverev looked to be closer to recovering his form this season with a dominant 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 win over Briton Cameron Norrie.
The German will next face Hamburg Open winner Nikoloz Basilashvili, who cruised past Jan-Lennard Struff 2-6 6-2 6-3.
Romanian world No.39 Radu Albot was edged out by Argentina's Guido Pella 3-6 6-2 7-6 (7-2) after two hours and 21 minutes.
