Rogers Cup Thursday - What to see, do, watch and look out for

MONTREAL –  The rest of the Canadians are out of the singles now, leaving just the king and queen of the Canadian tennis prom, Genie Bouchard and Milos Raonic, to fight for the flag.

For Raonic, who only made his debut Wednesday, a qualifier in the third round is probably just fine with him. For Bouchard, who is in the third round of the Rogers Cup for the first time (this is her ninth trip - hard to believe), a qualifier is also just what the doctor ordered.

The best match on paper, for the women, would be between future Olympic teammates Venus Williams, 36 and Madison Keys, 21, the No. 6 and No. 10 seeds.

But will it?  There are definitely health concerns for Venus, who was just lobbing in her serve by the end of her second-round match Wednesday against Barbora Strycova. She was typically cagey afterwards about the nature of the problem.

CANADIAN CONTENT

Toronto:

In addition to Raonic's night match, perhaps the match that might produce the most sparks in Toronto will be the doubles clash between Canadians Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil, reunited before the Rio Games, and Jack Sock and Nick Kyrgios.

The team of Pospisil and Sock, which took the 2014 Wimbledon title, is no more for all intents and purposes. But as laissez-faire as Sock is on the doubles court (too much so), you get the sense he'll be motivated for this one as he rarely was this season playing with Pospisil. He and Kyrgios are great pals - they'd practice together at every tournament if they could, but the people around Kyrgios try to discourage it because they spend more energy on having fun than they do on improving their games.

It also will be a good test for Pospisil and Nestor before the Games. Get there early for a good seat.

Wild cards Philip Bester and Adil Shamasdin, who defeated the all-Serbian team of Novak Djokovic and Nenad Zimonjic in the first round, take on the No. 7 seeds, Raven Klaasen of South Africa and Rajeev Ram of the U.S., in their second-round doubles match.

Montreal:

Bouchard is it for the Canadian content in Montreal, so all eyes will be on her as the anticipation builds up throughout the day. Hopefully the weather will cooperate.

MATCHES TO WATCH

Toronto:

No. 2 Stan Wawrinka vs. No.16 Jack Sock is a matchup between one of the most renowned backhands on tour in Wawrinka and arguably the most wondrous forehand save for Rafael Nadal in Sock. The young American's big shot is a huge, heavy beast, right up there on the ball-revolutions scale with the legendary Spaniard. They'll both try to use their biggest weapons as much as possible but with both being righthanders, that means both will try to change the patterns of the rallies to their advantage. Could be fascinating.

Another fascinating clash of styles will feature No. 7 David Goffin of Belgium vs. No. 10 Gaël Monfils of France. There's a height and strength disparity (which is true of Goffin against anybody) and this one will be all about whether Monfils imposes an aggressive game or whatever, as can happen when he plays countryman Gilles Simon (against whom he has a similar height and power advantage) he gets sucked into long rallies that would favour the underestimated Goffin.

Montreal:

The big serve of Karolina Pliskova (most aces on the WTA Tour) against the movement and counterattacking of No. 5 seed Simona Halep opens up the action on the centre court. On Court Banque Nationale, check out youngster Daria Kasatkina of Russia and see how she deals with the incredible slice of veteran and 2015 U.S. Open finalist Roberta Vinci, as well as a clash of veterans between Svetlana Kuznetsova and Petra Kvitova. Kuznetsova, whose best moments (two Grand Slam titles) seemed to be behind her even though she's only 31, has had a resurgent season while Kvitova (the two-time WImbledon champion) has had a choppy season – even choppier than her usual up-and-down results.

ON THE PRACTICE COURTS

Montreal:

Venus Williams: 4-5 p.m. (Court 3)

Eugenie Bouchard: 5-6 p.m. (Court 4)

Toronto:

TBA

THE WEATHER

In Montreal, the humidity is going to be off the charts, with a forecast high of 28C and a humidex of 34C.

Of more concern is that there is a 40 per cent chance of showers throughout the day, with a risk of thunderstorms in the afternoon - a natural consequence of the humidity. The same forecast holds for tonight so Bouchard's match may end up being even later than the expected start which, if Williams-Keys is competitive, could be as late as 9 p.m.

In Toronto, the forecast is similar with a slighly lower risk of the wet stuff (30 per cent) and slightly higher temperatures.

In other words, a sweater of a day. And possibly one during which patience will be a virtue.

ON TV

Rogers Sportsnet in English and TVA Sports in French have taken over the entire week's coverage of the tournament (formerly, the CBC/Radio-Canada had it on the last three days).

They're on from 11 a.m. and again at 6:30 p.m. for the night session, on all of their channels although the men take over the main channels most of the time, with the women restricted to Sportsnet1.

The way the Canadian scheduling worked out, Pospisil and Nestor could roll into Milos Raonic, which could roll right into Genie Bouchard in Montreal. Or it might not, depending on whether the weather comes into play.

No Blue Jays tonight, so Raonic and Djokovic will be broadcast across the entire Sportsnet family, with the women again on Sportsnet 1.

You can watch the Toronto matches (including Pospisil-Nestor) on the secondary Grandstand court online by clicking here.