Canadians shine at Rogers Cup

It was Canada Day at the Rogers Cup on Tuesday.

In what will be remembered as one of the greatest days in this country's tennis history, seven Canadians advanced to the second round of the men's and women's tournaments. It was a red-letter day for a country that has produced tennis stars at about the same pace that Switzerland churns out hockey players.

The day included performances from players unknown to most Canadians -- Filip Peliwo, Jesse Levine and Sharon Fichman -- to those skirting the edges of the public consciousness -- Frank Dancevic and Vasek Pospisil -- to rising stars Milos Raonic and Eugenie Bouchard.

Fans in Montreal witnessed the most amazing show of Canadian muscle with five Canucks moving on to the second round of the men's tournament.

It started with Peliwo, who made headlines last year by winning junior Wimbledon, knocking off Jarkko Nieminen of Finland in three sets, 3-6, 7-5, 3-1. The Vancouver product won when Nieminen walked off the court with a hamstring injury in the third set, but looked like he was well on his way before the Finn was injured.

Dancevic kept things rolling by using his powerful serve to beat Taiwan's Yen-Hsun Lu in three sets, 5-7, 7-6, 6-1. That set the stage for one of the day's big upsets when the 71st-ranked Pospisil kept coming back to beat 20th-ranked American John Isner 5-7, 7-6, 7-6. It was the biggest win of the Vernon, B.C. native's career.

Jesse Levine, who recently began playing as a Canadian after competing as an American for most of his career, kept things rolling by defeating Xavier Matisse of Belgium 6-4, 7-6. The native of Nepean, Ont., was making his first Rogers Cup appearance as a Canadian.

That set the stage for Raonic to set a record with the fifth Canadian victory of the day. Though the world's No. 13-ranked player struggled against Jeremy Chardy of France, he put a second-set loss behind him and won 6-3, 4-6, 7-5.

In Toronto, one spot had already been guaranteed for Canada when Fichman drew fellow Canadian Stephanie Dubois in the first round. Fichman lost the first set before rebounding to take the match in convincing style 5-7, 6-2, 6-2.

The evening's feature match presented a perfect opportunity for Bouchard to break through in her first year as a pro. The 2012 junior Wimbledon champ was impressive and in control throughout her match with Alisa Kleybanovo of Russia, winning 6-3, 6-1 and getting stronger as the match wore on.

Naturally, things will get tougher for all of the Canadians -- except Raonic.

Bouchard will meet defending Rogers Cup champion Petra Kvitova on Wednesday night while Fichman will meet 15th-ranked Jelena Jankovic.

Peliwo will meet Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan next, while Dancevic takes on Poland's Jerzy Janowicz. Pospisil will try to get by Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic while Levine has the misfortune of drawing world No. 4 Rafael Nadal.

Raonic will be considered the favourite when he takes on Russia's Mikhail Youzhny on Wednesday night.