Rogers Cup 2017: Rafael Nadal, Venus Williams, Angelique Kerber Eliminated

The quarterfinals for the 2017 Rogers Cup are set with plenty of surprises coming in both the men's and women's draws.

Rafael Nadal was knocked out in the biggest upset of the day, leaving only three seeded players in the final eight spots in the men's bracket. The women's side features five seeded players, although big names Venus Williams, Angelique Kerber and Agnieszka Radwanska were sent home in Round 3.

Here are the latest results from the Masters event in Canada.

Results

Men's Draw

No. 12 Roberto Bautista Agut def. Gael Monfils; 4-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(2)

Diego Schwartzman def. Jared Donaldson; 0-6, 7-5, 7-5

Robin Haase def. No. 7 Grigor Dimitrov; 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-1

No. 2 Roger Federer def. David Ferrer; 4-6, 6-4, 6-2

Kevin Anderson def. Sam Querrey; 6-4, 6-1

No. 4 Alexander Zverev def. No. 16 Nick Kyrgios; 6-4, 6-3

Adrian Mannarino def. Hyeon Chung; 6-3, 6-3

Denis Shapovalov def. No. 1 Rafael Nadal; 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(4)

Women's Draw

No. 1 Karolina Pliskova def. Naomi Osaka; 6-2, 6-7(4), 1-0 ret.

No. 6 Caroline Wozniacki def. No. 10 Agnieszka Radwanska; 6-3, 6-1

No. 2 Simona Halep def. Barbora Strycova; 6-1, 6-0

Caroline Garcia def. Catherine Bellis; 6-4, 6-2

Lucie Safarova def. Ekaterina Makarova; 6-3, 6-7(3), 6-2

No. 5 Elina Svitolina def. No. 9 Venus Williams; 6-2, 6-1

Sloane Stephens def. No. 3 Angelique Kerber; 6-2, 6-2

No. 4 Garbine Muguruza def. Ashleigh Barty; 6-0, 3-6, 6-2

Notable Results

Denis Shapovalov Pulls Massive Upset over Rafael Nadal

Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images

Rafael Nadal had his eyes on becoming the new No. 1 player in the world, but instead, it was a magical night for 18-year-old Denis Shapovalov.

After dropping the first set, Shapovalov showed no fear in the second, bringing fans to their feet as they cheered on the Canadian youngster. This exchange was arguably the best of the day:

Supplementing these finishes with five aces (after zero in the first set), he was able to win the second set 6-4.

His grit was apparent once again in the third set with one game especially lasting a long time, via Ben Rothenberg of the New York Times:

The decisive set eventually went to a tiebreak, and while Nadal took a 3-0 lead, Shapovalov closed out the victory. 

He entered the week ranked No. 143 in the world, but the biggest win of his career will ensure he doesn't get overlooked ever again.

Roger Federer Outlasts David Ferrer 

The theme of the day in the men's draw was come-from-behind wins. Roberto Bautista Agut and Diego Schwartzman both overcame first-set losses to win, with Schwartzman even losing 0-6 in the opening frame.

Roger Federer continued the trend, following up a 4-6 loss in the first set with a 6-4, 6-2 finish. Jose Morgado of Record Portugal reacted to the performance:

Federer was sloppy throughout the first set, struggling to get his first serve in play and handing his opponent plenty of points through unforced errors. He cleaned things up in the last two sets, totaling eight aces with just one double fault in that stretch.

He was broken just once in nine service games after the first set.

Ferrer played well at times, but few men in the world can beat Federer once his serve is going.

Sloane Stephens Shocks Angelique Kerber

If you were going to predict this match to end in less than one hour, you would probably expect the No. 3 seed to get the win over the opponent ranked No. 934 in the world. That was not the case Thursday.

Unseeded Sloane Stephens dominated the third-seeded Angelique Kerber with a two-set win, dropping just four games in a dominant third-round showing.

Stephens has had to overcome injuries in recent years and didn't have a single win in 2017 coming into the Rogers Cup. However, she now has three in a row, including a victory over No. 14 seed Petra Kvitova.

WTA Insider noted how long it has been since the American had this big of a win:

"Everything is good," Stephens said after the match, per Matt Cronin of TennisReporters.net. "Body is good. Nothing is hurting. So I'm on the right track."

As long as she remains healthy, she can be a threat for the rest of the tournament and the rest of the year.

Venus Williams No Match for Elina Svitolina

John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

There were two matchups between top-10 seeds in the women's draw Thursday and neither ended up being particularly close.

The biggest disappointment of the day was No. 9 Venus Williams, who provided almost no resistance against No. 5 Elina Svitolina.

Svitolina was outstanding defensively, winning 55 percent of return points on Williams' first serves. She was even more dominant against the second serve with a 70 percent success rate.

This second-set point showed her ability to pick up almost everything:

Williams is coming off a finals appearance at Wimbledon, but she didn't perform anywhere near this level in the third-round battle. 

Friday Matches (Full schedule via RogersCup.com)

Men's Draw

Denis Shapovalov vs. Adrian Mannarino

No. 4 Alexander Zverev vs. Kevin Anderson

Robin Haase vs. Diego Schwartzman

No. 12 Roberto Bautista Agut vs. No. 2 Roger Federer

Women's Draw

No. 1 Karolina Pliskova vs. No. 6 Caroline Wozniacki

Sloane Stephens vs. Lucie Safarova

No. 5 Elina Svitolina vs. No. 4 Garbine Muguruza

Caroline Garcia vs. No. 2 Simona Halep