TORONTO – The main draw of the 2016 Rogers Cup started off promising for the hometown contingent as three of the four Canadians in action on Monday were victorious.

Steven Diez and Peter Polansky were the first two to take to the courts on Monday and both were victorious.

Diez entered this week’s tournament ranked 190th in the world but despite losing his opening set to Kyle Edmund of Great Britain, the Toronto native roared back, taking the match 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. Despite serving only five aces to Edmund’s nine and committing five double faults, the 25-year-old Canadian persevered as he advances to the second round. There, he will face Australia's Bernard Tomic, who defeated wild-card qualifier Alejandro Gonzalez of Colombia 6-4, 7-6(1) later in the day.

Shortly following Diez’s victory, Peter Polansky took to the court hoping to keep the home country’s winning ways intact. He did just that by defeating American Tim Smyczek 4-6, 6-3, 6-0.

After losing his first set, the former top-seeded Canadian fought back but just when it looked as if Smyczek found himself in a groove, it was Polansky who broke away, advancing to the next round.

Unlike Diez, Polansky does not yet know who his next opponent will be. He will face the winner of Tuesday morning's matchup between France's Benoit Paire and Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic.

In the evening, the home country's new rising star, Denis Shapovalov, fresh off winning the Wimbledon Juniors earlier this month, was eager to show the hometown fans what he was made of, and he did not disappoint.

In a match that lasted 99 minutes, fans in attendances got their money's worth for every minute as Shapovalov and his opponent, 11th-seeded Nick Kyrgios had a marathon of a match. In the end, though, the native of nearby Richmond Hill, Ontario, prevailed, besting the Australian 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-3.

Both fired a bevy of aces – 12 and 13 respectively – but Kyrgios's 18 double faults did him in as Shapovalov showed off his impeccable game en route to the victory.

Next up for Shapovalov is a Wednesday meeting with Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov who, in a marathon of his own, defeated Japan's Yuichi Sugita on Monday afternoon 5-7, 7-6(5), 6-4.
To round out the action on Monday, Frank Dancevic looked to make it a sweep for the Canadians as he battled American Sam Querrey. But Dancevic was unable to make it a perfect day for the host country as he was bested by Querrey 7-6(5), 6-4.

Unlike Monday, the lone Canuck in singles action on Tuesday is Vernon, B. C.'s Vasek Pospisil who takes on France's Jeremy Chardy.

However, in doubles action, the Canadian duo of Philip Bester and Adil Shamasdin are in action in the morning but will be in tough against the Serbian pair of Novak Djokovic and Nenad Zimonjic. In addition, the man of the hour from Monday, the aforementioned Denis Shapovalov, teams with fellow Canuck Felix Auger Aliassime as they take on Australia's Bernard Tomic and Serbia's Viktor Troicki in the evening.