Milos Raonic falls to Gael Monfils in Rogers Cup quarter-final, while Novak Djokovic advances

TORONTO — All along, the two men who had been the faces of the tournament were meant to face off. But for parts throughout Friday night at the Rogers Cup, it looked as if neither would get there.

Since the draw was set a week ago, many predicted Novak Djokovic, the world No. 1, and Milos Raonic, Canada’s top-ranked player, would inevitably meet in a semifinal. But this is sport where everything is penciled in and nothing is for sure. That was no more evident than this night on Centre Court at the Aviva Centre.

Both Djokovic and Raonic wavered in their respective quarter-finals. Ultimately, Djokovic survived the test, beating Tomas Berdych 7-6(6), 6-4. Raonic, however, did not.

Instead, it was the Frenchman Gael Monfils, the ATP’s hottest player right now, who won his ninth straight match by a score of 6-4, 6-4 to oust the six-foot-five Canadian from his hometown tournament.

"You try to learn from it, and 'disappointment' is the right word," Raonic said of the loss. "In tennis, unless you're the guy winning the tournaments most of the weeks, which there's very few guys that are doing that, you're losing quite a bit. So it's very important to make the most of those, try to learn, try to be better from those situations. That's my next objective. I'll look back at this and give it the right amount of perspective and try to take it to the next process, next step forward, to be better next time, to not let these kind of things repeat themselves."

But rewind to more than week ago, when a wave of withdrawals hit the Rogers Cup. Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray, three of the top four players, announced they wouldn’t make the trip to Toronto, along with several other players who pulled out last-minute.

The upcoming Rio Olympic Games, which has caused an already busy summer schedule to be all the more crowded, were once again wreaking havoc on the Canadian ATP Tour stop, just as it does every four years. With three of the top four players already out, the tournament had to rely heavily on the world's top player and their country's best to drum up attention. As a result, their presence was marketed prominently.

Entering the Aviva Centre, fans are met with the likeness of Raonic and Djokovic plastered across enormous banners on the tennis facility’s exterior. When they’ve played, the pair have been on the cover of the tournament’s daily program and you can spot their intense stares on posters throughout the grounds, including two huge ones that keep their eye on the reporters in the site’s press centre.

The tournament was dealt another small blow when the Canadian and Serbian were drawn into the same half, meaning they’d play in a semifinal Saturday, rather than a blockbuster final Sunday — assuming they got there.

With the two main attractions on the ticket, Friday evening saw the biggest crowds of the week. For Djokovic, who opened the evening, the stadium was nearly packed with Serbian flags sprinkled throughout the stands.

In his quarter-final, Djokovic faced the eighth-ranked Berdych, who he had beat the last 11 times they had played. He also led their head-to-head by a lopsided score of 24-2.

The 12th straight win looked well on its way early. As is his custom, Djokovic was returning well to start the match, taking control from the outset. Up 5-2 and serving, he looked to be cruising to an easy set win. But facing break point in that game, Djokovic was called for a time violation and on the ensuing point, he hit an off-balance backhand into the net to give back the break.

That was enough to shift the momentum as Berdych would battle back to send it to a tiebreak. There, it was Berdych who took control early, earning a 6-3 lead along with three set points. But Djokovic would save each one, thanks in part to sloppy errors from the Czech, and would take the breaker 8-6.

“I anticipated well in some returns, and I… hung in there,” Djokovic said. “But Tomas had definitely, especially the first set in his hands, and he just threw it off with some unforced errors. But again, this is sport. It's important to always stay committed and trust that you can play one ball more than your opponent.”

In the second set, Djokovic would again break to go up 2-1, but this time, he wouldn’t repeat the same mistake, eventually winning the second set 6-4.

"I was very fortunate to get away with the first set. And second set was slightly better, but still, things are not clicking 100 per cent, but, you know, I'm moving on and hopefully it's going to get better," he said.

By the time Raonic arrived moments after Djokovic walked off the main stage, there was standing room only on Centre Court, while the Serbian flags had been replaced by Canadian ones.

As he’s done all week long, Raonic would come out utilizing his biggest weapon, closing out the first game with a 215-kilometre per hour ace. But the always-entertaining Monfils appeared up for the challenge as he and Raonic engaged in long, crowd-pleasing rallies that are often absent from the Canadian’s matches.

“You know, any energy, I take it. Even if it's for me or not for me, I take it,” Monfils said of playing in front of the pro-Raonic crowd.

For the most part, Raonic would serve well in the match, hitting seven aces and losing just 12 points on his serve. Problem was those lost points came at inopportune times.

With Raonic serving at 3-3 in the first, Monfils jumped out to a 0-40 lead, earning three break points. While the Canadian would save two via monster serves, he’d fire a forehand wide to give his opponent the break and 5-4 lead. Monfils wouldn’t waste the opportunity to serve out the set.

Again, in the second, Raonic ran into trouble in the business end of the set, going down 0-40 while serving at 4-all. A couple loose forehands, a misplaced volley from Raonic and just like that, Monfils was serving for the match. Once again, he wouldn’t waste it.

“I lost 12 points on my serve, and eight of those were in two games that I played quite poorly. That's what it came down to. I had a few looks on his and didn't make the most of that,” Raonic said.

When players step off Centre Court, they walk through a hallway that's decorated with framed photos of the most recent Rogers Cup winners. For yet another year, the boy who grew up in nearby Thornhill, Ont., whose face hangs across the Aviva Centre entrance, won’t have his picture hung on that wall of champions. But despite the disappointment, Raonic said he appreciates the week he had.

“It's a great honour to play in front of that kind of appreciation and respect from the Canadians. It's not something I get to do too often, so it's a very special feeling,” he said.

As for the semifinal between Djokovic and Monfils, which goes Saturday evening, it may not be what many — including the tournament – had hoped for, but it will feature the man who's ruled tennis for much of the last two years, and the man of the hour.

"Gaël is -- he's playing great tennis at the moment," Djokovic said. "He won Washington. He's been playing more or less every day for last couple of weeks...So, you know, he's feeling confident on the court."