France Defeats Raonic-Less Canada in Davis Cup Action

By Mike McIntyre

It was not the end Canadian tennis fans had envisioned for their opening round Davis Cup tie against France. Instead of watching the highly anticipated singles match between world No. 6 Jo Wilfried Tsonga and big-serving Milos Raonic, there was an initial sigh of disbelief when it was announced Frank Dancevic would be playing for Canada in the crucial fourth match.

It turns out that Raonic had developed a pain in his knee that worsened during his doubles match with Daniel Nestor on Saturday. He made the decision only this morning to abdicate his position in favour of Dancevic, who at 178^th in the ATP World Tour rankings did not present nearly the same amount of firepower Canada required to level the Davis Cup tie at two apiece.

Raonic’s decision was nothing short of controversial and had the press buzzing at the Thunderbird Sports Centre in Vancouver. The way the news leaked was through Raonic’s agent Graham Cross who gave a short prepared statement on behalf of his protégé to Tennis Canada less than an hour prior to the match itself. Even more distressing was the fact that Raonic would apparently not be made available at all today to answer any questions about the decision to withdraw.

Fortunately cooler heads prevailed and Raonic did face the media for a very brief Q&A following the conclusion of the match between Tsonga and Dancevic. Raonic was not spared from answering tough questions about the decision.

First he was asked whether his sponsorship by SAP played any part in the decision to pull-out, since they are also the title sponsors at the tournament in San Jose that starts tomorrow where Raonic is the defending champion. Could it be that his duties to appear there trumped his willingness to test the knee in action today?

Raonic certainly would not concede to that suggestion and instead levelled that it was merely a case of not wanting to cause further harm to his body at this stage of his young career. I chose to take his answer at face value given the amount of time he missed last year with a serious hip injury.

Raonic was further queried about the manner in which he revealed his withdrawal from game-play today without initially speaking to the press. Couldn’t he have found a more professional and transparent way to address the situation?

His response was that he decided to place the Canadian team first and be supportive of Dancevic as he prepared for his big match today. I suppose Raonic failed to foresee the distraction his silence would spark.

Chalk it up to a young player who at the age of twenty-one still has a lot to learn about the way that professional sports and its media coverage operates. One might however wonder if he is being properly advised by his agent, Cross, who also happens to represent American tennis player Andy Roddick – himself not exactly a known charmer with the media.

Either way, there was in fact a tennis match that was played outside of this small debacle. It even ended up being quite an entertaining match at that.

The twenty-seven year old Dancevic relied on his previous Davis Cup experience to at least make a game of it today against his much higher ranked and more talented opponent.

Despite falling behind quickly to 0-4 in the opening set, Dancevic got one break of serve back from the powerful Tsonga and narrowed the gap to 4-3 in favour of the Frenchman.

Though Dancevic would lose the set 6-4, he seemed to be gaining momentum from the ever-raucous crowd that began a steady “Frank the Tank” chant to support their man.

The second set saw some fantastic tennis and an elevated number of winners from both players. That being said, even though he maintained the score at 4-4 and kept it close, Dancevic rarely threatened to break Tsonga’s rock-solid serve. The Canadian would let the set slip by another score of 6-4.

By the third frame, Dancevic was clearly starting to loose his stamina while Tsonga continued his strong play. France would take the match 6-4, 6-4, 6-1 and with it the all-important third and deciding victory to clinch the tie against Canada.  

Dancevic should be proud of the way he battled, especially since he was thrust into the spotlight on short notice. He played hard and gave Tsonga a bit more of a challenge than the Frenchman likely expected when he realized it was not going to be the 6’5’’ Raonic across the net from him on this day.

For Milos, it was hopefully a learning experience on how to handle a tough situation like this one in the future. As the emerging face of tennis in Canada he will certainly have other opportunities on the world stage to prove his worth and ability.

For Canada, it was a three day celebration of the wonderful sport of tennis and how it can galvanize a nation. The crowds in Vancouver were top-notch and cheered for their players with the type of fervour normally reserved for a Stanley Cup hockey game. They remained respectful of the French team while simultaneously pumping-up their players in the search for a victory that was unfortunately just not meant to be.

Davis Cup Begins in Vancouver

 

Asking Pospisil to defeat Tsonga was a bit of a stretch

By Mike McIntyre

It's time to bring an ATP World Tour main event to Vancouver! 

Canada's Davis Cup tie against France got underway on Friday in a city that is known for feverishly supporting its hockey team. Apparently none of the 4,000 in attendance got the memo that the Canucks (Vancouver's NHL team) are out of town, as the Thunderbird Sports Centre certainly had the atmosphere of a hockey game.

Things got underway with Vasek Pospisil, ranked 115th in the world, against France's most formidable foe in Jo Wilfried Tsonga. This was clearly going to be the match of the series (or "tie" as they call it in tennis) that would be the most difficult for the Canadian team to be competitive in. Tsonga is 6th in the ATP rankings and was a finalist at the 2008 Australian Open, so to say that he's in a different class of tennis player than Pospisil is an understatement.

Sure Pospisil was Canada's hero stepping-up in September against Israel, but Dudi Sela and company are not in the same realm of player like Tsonga is. Few are for that matter.

Serving at 1-2 in the opening set, Pospisil would face his first break point at 30-40 and show his early game jitters. After Tsonga returned a second serve, Pospisil's backhand slice had too much spin to get itself over the net and the French contingent of about 100 fans suddenly became much more involved as their nation went up 3-1.

After the match, Pospisil would admit that he was a little tense at the start with Vancouver being his home-town. It showed as the twenty-one year old seemed anxious and was hitting many of his balls outside of the lines.

A net cord favourable to Tsonga during Pospisil's next service game put the more experienced Frenchman up 5-1. Tsonga would then hold at love to take the opening set 6-1. Good thing these matches are best of five, right?

The second set started with a hold for the young Canuck, but then there was a tense service game at 1-1 in which Pospisil had to save several break points to avoid going down another early deficit. He came through with some strong serving and really got the home crowd going to go up 2-1.

The atmosphere at a Davis Cup match is truly electric compared with your typical tennis match. Having that many partisan fans certainly helps but even at the Rogers Cup in Toronto and Montreal I've never witnessed something nearly as circus-like as the few thousand fans at the arena on this day. Having the Sardis Secondary school band playing in the stands along with a throng of rowdy Canadian fans really amped the atmosphere up a notch.

The momentum from the previous hold served to get Pospisil going and briefly it appeared as though the Canadian might be able to swing the set in his favour. He had his first break point on Tsonga's serve at 30-40. A thrilling rally ensued at 30-40 with both players ending up near the net, but Tsonga had the answer on a stretch forehand cross court. Tsonga's was eventually able to maintain the hold for a 2-2  score.

Then as quickly as it seemed he might at one point get the upper hand, a double fault at 3-3 would hand Tsonga a crucial second set break.

Throughout the match Tsonga was never bothered by Pospisil's several approaches to the net and usually seemed to come up with a shot that revealed his experience to gain the point.

A Pospisil forehand into the net would give Tsonga the second set 6-3 and a seemingly insurmountable lead. While Tsonga had blown a two-set-to-love lead against Stan Wawrinka at least year's French Open, such a feat would not be accomplished on this day by Pospisil.

The third set would start out close, but Tsonga took a break to go up 4-2 and by then Pospisil's fate was all but decided. It was probably for the best in order for Canada to rest him-up for his doubles match with Daniel Nestor against the French duo of Llodra and Benneteau on Saturday.

Tsonga sealed the match with an ace for France to take the 1-0 lead in the best of five match tie a short while later to win by a score of 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 in 1 hour 52 minutes. His experience and skill-level proved too much for his younger opponent in the end.

In the second match of the day the result was quite different. Canada's number one singles player and future Grand Slam threat, Milos Raonic took to the court to thunderous applause to face Julien Benneteau.

Despite being ranked quite close to one-another, with Raonic at 29th in the world and Benneteau at 35th, I had a pretty good feeling that Raonic was primed to take this one. Even though the thirty year old Benneteau defeated him back in November in the Paris Masters, Raonic had the home crowd behind him here in Vancouver and has looked solid this year with a win in Chennai and a third round showing at the Aussie Open. 

Raonic did not disappoint and was in control of the match right from the beginning. The match went as smoothly as could be expected with Raonic winning 6-2, 6-4, 7-5 to even-up the tie at one apiece.

With one of the greatest doubles players to ever play the game in Daniel Nestor taking to the court Saturday, Canada has a solid shot at gaining the edge on France prior to Sunday's two singles matches.

Around The Corner: Cincinnati Masters

By Mike McIntyre

As the Rogers Cup is set to wrap-up this weekend in Montreal with the men, the draw for the second consecutive Masters 1000 event has just been released in Cincinnati. With the U.S. Open just two weeks away now, players will be looking to fine-tune their games and round into form for the final Grand Slam of the year.

How will Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray rebound after poor showings in Canada? The answer to that question has a lot to do with the draws they have received as well as how they deal with their mental and physical short-comings from this past week.

World number one Novak Djokovic will enjoy the benefits of a first round bye at the Western and Southern Open and gets the winner of American Ryan Harrison and Argentina's Juan Ignacio Chela. The progress that Harrison has made this year has been quite positive and he is giving U.S. tennis fans some real hope as they continue to search for the successor to Andy Roddick. Harrison should get by Chela, a player whose game is never really that dangerous on hard-courts.

Djokovic also has Stan Wawrinka and Gael Monfils in his section of the draw. Both of those players made the quarter-finals in Montreal this week. Djokovic can handle either, especially evidenced by his 6-2, 6-1 beating of Monfils on Friday evening.

Andy Roddick makes his return to the ATP World Tour after some injury issues of late. Currently ranked 12th in the world, Roddick could see his ranking start to fall quickly if he cannot put together some results this summer. Roddick has not played since a Davis Cup loss to David Ferrer on hard-courts in early July. He will open in Cincy against Philipp Kohlschreiber, a tricky opponent to be sure.

Djokovic should be able to advance through this section but having too much success just prior to the Open could be problematic down the road. A player does not want to peak too early, although it seems that Djokovic has found a way to keep his magical results going all year long.

In the following quarter of the draw, Roger Federer is not going to have an easy run. While he was fortunate to draw Canadian wildcard Vasek Pospisil in Montreal, his first adversary in Cincy will be either Juan Martin Del Potro or Andreas Seppi. No offence to Seppi, but it would be shocking if he could get by the 6'6'' Argentine.

Federer will be pushed to the limit by Del Potro and could see his U.S. Open preparations seriously harmed if he's not on top of his game. Federer holds a 6-2 advantage in their career head-to-head, but Del Po has won the last two encounters.

Tomas Berdych is also in this section of the draw as the 8th seed, but you can never get your hopes up with this guy. It seems like a mix of quarter-final and semi-final appearances this year are all we are going to get out of the talented but enigmatic Czech. He hasn't beaten a quality opponent all year long, so I wouldn't expect that to change now. This guy must drive his coach nuts!

On the other side of the draw Rafael Nadal will try to get things back on track after a surprising second round defeat to Ivan Dodig. While Federer losing to Tsonga in Montreal was always within the realm of possibility, I don't think anyone really saw that Dodig loss coming for Nadal.

The Spaniard will play either Guillermo Garcia-Lopez or a qualifier in his opening match. That should be the perfect prescription to get things going to him. A quarter-final match against Mardy Fish is a possibility for Nadal, although with Fish going deep in Montreal I wonder how much energy he will want to expend in back-to-back weeks.

Keep an eye on the talented Alexandr Dolgopolov who opens against Richard Gasquet in this quarter as well as Fernando Verdasco and veteran Xavier Malisse as a longshot who can still play the game quite well.

Finally, Andy Murray will try to find his form against the winner of David Nalbandian and a qualifier. Nalbandian can't seem to catch a break as he opened against Wawrinka in Montreal. Murray should be a good bet to dispatch of the veteran Argentine and hopefully the doubles action he saw with his older brother Jamie in Montreal will help him out here.

David Ferrer and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga are also in this section and are fantastic hard-court players who could go deep here if Murray is still working out the kinks in his game.

Of the top-twenty players in the world, only Sweden's Robin Soderling is missing in action.

My picks for a final four this week will be Djokovic vs. Del Potro and Murray against Dolgopolov. I don't see Federer getting by his first opponent and something just didn't seem right with Nadal while practicing or playing in Montreal this past week.

Let the speculation for the U.S. Open continue. It will be here before we know it!

Federer and Djokovic Advance At Rogers Cup

Photo by Bob McIntyre

Article By Mike McIntyre

Tennis fans in Montreal were in-store for a great day on Wednesday with the world's top three players slated to hit Centre Court. Everyone was wondering how Djokovic, Nadal and Federer would respond after such a long layoff. Would there be any upsets as we saw yesterday with Andy Murray?

In the opening match of the day, Roger Federer made his return to the courts since a quick Davis Cup appearance in early July for Switzerland. He has not seen any tournament match-play since a shocking quarter-final loss to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the All-England Club in June.

Today was one of those rare days where Federer did not have the whole crowd behind him as he was matched-up against young Canadian Vasek Pospisil. Don't be surprised if you haven't heard of this kid as this was the first main-draw ATP World Tour event of his career.

Only having just recently turned 21 years of age and ranked 155th in the world, Pospisil had failed to qualify for the Rogers Cup in his previous two attempts. This year, due in part to his strong play for Canada in the Davis Cup, he was granted a wild-card into the main draw. He did not disappoint yesterday as he advanced to the second round with a gutsy three-set win over 22nd ranked Juan Ignacio Chela.

Although Pospisil managed to stay with Federer today through the first ten games of the opening set, nerves kicked in when serving at 5-6. Pospisil knew this would be a factor coming into the match as Federer was his idol growing up. He dropped four straight points to hand the set over to the world's number three player.

In the second frame, Federer seemed to find his game and the pace picked up quickly. Pospisil could  not match it and looked somewhat helpless as his hero walked away with it 7-5, 6-3. The young Canadian admitted he had never before seen shots like Federer's in his short professional career.

"I mean, I knew he plays fast. But it's another level of fast, to be honest. I've never felt a ball that goes through the court as fast as his does, especially his forehand."

Still, the result was a promising one for Pospisil who will now see his ranking reach an all-time high of roughly 145th in the world according to ATP stats guru Greg Sharko.

"My plan was just to concentrate on my own game, kind of hit my targets, try to play the ball rather than the occasion and the player," Pospisil said after the match had ended. "Obviously it's a lot easier said than done when you step on the court and you have Federer in front of you."

Federer will advance to a terrific third round match that everyone was hoping for against Tsonga. The Frenchman defeated rising Australian star Bernard Tomic today in straight sets 6-3, 7-6(1). I asked Tsonga if Federer had lost some of his intimidation after beating him both here in Montreal two years ago as well as at Wimbledon this summer.

"Anyway, (he's) still the best player ever for me. So it's still tough to play against him. And I think the win I had in the past, you know, they will help me, of course. But like when I lost against him, because I lost many times, I think all these matches will help me a lot."

Later on Wednesday, American John Isner came out and quickly finished-off Marcos Baghdatis in a match that was postponed due to rain Tuesday evening. Isner was up 6-3, 1-0 when play resumed and was not challenged by Baghdatis as he would close out the match 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the next round. Isner won't get much rest as he is scheduled to play Viktor Troicki later in the day.

Next up the world got its first look at newly crowned world number one Novak Djokovic. It took a while for Djokovic to look the part as he quickly found himself down by two breaks against Nikolay Davydenko. The Russian used to be a top-ten stalwart but has seen his game hampered since a wrist injury that kept him out for a good stretch in 2010. Davydenko came ready to play today though and his crisp ground-strokes were finding their mark deep in the court.

Just when Twitter was starting to buzz with talk of an upset, Djokovic came back into the first set thanks in part to some errors on Davydenko's part. The 30th ranked player in the world then crumbled in the second and the victory was Djokovic's 7-5, 6-1. Disaster averted.

Life won't get any easier for Djokovic as he will next play either Marin Cilic or Juan Martin Del Potro who were on-serve at 3-3 in the first set when rain halted play just after 5pm ET.

Other final results from today in Montreal:

Monfils d. Bogomolov Jr. 6-2, 7-6(5) (Le Monf pleases the French fans here)

Berdych d. Dolgopolov 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 (Nice recovery by Berdych against a tough early-round opponent)

Gasquet d. Bellucci 6-1, 6-4 (Gasquet looking great through two matches here so far)

Wawrinka d. Russell 6-3, 6-2 (Wawrinka also breezing through opponents)

Almagro d. Stakhovsky 6-2, 7-6(5) (Good result on hard-court for Almagro, but Gasquet up next)

Karlovic d. Petzschner 6-7(0), 7-6(2), 7-6(6) (Five out of six sets have been tie-breaks for Ivo so far)

Rogers Cup Day One Review

 By Mike McIntyre

Day one from the Rogers Cup offered up some quality first round matches in Montreal. Some were able to meet expectations while others did not.

Falling into the category of the latter would be David Nalbandian against 16th seeded Stanislas Wawrinka. While the world's second ranked Swiss player held a solid 5-3 record against Nalbandian heading into the match, the Argentine won their last encounter with ease a year ago by a score of 6-1, 6-3.

Nalbandian has had a tough year, one that once again has been negatively impacted by health issues. Requiring not one, but two separate surgeries to his left leg/groin areas, Nalbandian missed three months on the tour and returned just in time for the brief grass-court season. He lost in the third round of both Queen's (Verdasco) and Wimbledon (Federer) before falling to James Blake in the first round of Washington where he was the defending champion. His inability to defend those ranking points sent him plummeting 24 spots in the ranking to his current spot of 51st in the world.

Nalbandian looked ordinary on Center Court against Wawrinka today and could not make a dent in his game. He looked somewhat lethargic and allowed Wawrinka to win easily 6-1, 6-4 to advance to the second round where he will now face the winner of the Michael Russell vs. Albert Montanes match scheduled for tomorrow.

Wawrinka was moving well on the court today and never seemed bothered by Nalbandian's game. His assessment of his opponent was pretty much to the point as he said that, "With him, you never know.  Today he was not playing really good. I think he's not really ready." He pointed out that perhaps at Nalbandian's age he is not quite as fit as he needs to be. "But maybe with the year (age), he's 29 now, maybe it's not easy for him to play many matches at the top level."

Nalbandian was practicing on the weekend with big-serving Ivo Karlovic - perhaps not the best player to prepare for a groundstroke battle with an all-round player like Wawrinka.

In the second match of the day on the main stage, the ever-present Juan Carlos Ferrero took on enigmatic Ernests Gulbis. JCF held a 1-0 head-to-head advantage coming into the match and had looked strong lately on clay in winning his sixteenth career title in Stuttgart. Ferrero's season has been a trying one however as he did not play his first tournament until April due to wrist and knee injuries. He was then out between May and July when those same ailments began acting up once again. Today was his first hard-court action of the year and he got off to a good start by taking the opening set 6-3.

Gulbis has been playing some of the best tennis of his career as of late as the 22 year old won his first title of the year and second of his career in Los Angeles against Mardy Fish. Could it be that Gulbis is finally going to deliver on his enormous potential? He dug deep today against Ferrero to comeback and win 3-6, 6-1, 7-5. Next on the horizon will be a match against the winner of tomorrow's match between Mikhail Youzhny and Michael Llodra.

Other matches of note on the outside courts included the talented Alexandr Dolgopolov, who survived a scare from Erik Chvojka of Canada who is ranked 290th in the world and was entered in the draw thanks to a wildcard from Tennis Canada. Dolgopolov had to battle to win 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.

Big serving Ivo Karlovic snapped out of a funk that has seen him lose seven of his last eight matches on the tour. He prevailed today against Juan Monaco 6-7(2), 6-3, 7-6(5) for only his second win since May. Speaking with him afterwards, Karlovic recalled that when he turned thirty it was, "the most depressing day of my life, so I know how Roger must feel now."

American Alex Bogomolov Jr. continued his surprising play of late by dispatching Adrian Mannarino in straight sets, 6-2, 7-6(4).

Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil knocked-off Andrey Golubev 7-5, 7-6(6). Golubev has now lost eighteen straight matches. He is quickly approaching the all-time losing record of Vince Spadea who at one point in his career lost twenty-one consecutive matches. Talk about having your resolve to keep playing thoroughly tested.

Marin Cilic, who it seems to me is due for some sort of breakthrough this year, was able to dispatch of Andreas Seppi 7-5, 6-4.

Nikolay Davydenko defeated Flavio Cipolla 6-3, 6-3 to advance to an interesting second round encounter. Davydenko will now face world number one Novak Djokovic in the second night match on Tuesday in Montreal. While a shell of his former self, Davydenko will be a tricky opening opponent for Djokovic. The Serb has not played yet due to a first round bye.

At night, Juan Martin Del Potro easily handled Jarkko Nieminen by a margin of 6-4, 6-0. I've personally stopped feeling any sympathy for Nieminen ever since he trounced Andre Agassi in the last two sets of the American's last appearance at the French Open. In that match in 2005, Agassi was up two sets to one until his back acted up and he was beaten 7-5, 4-6, 6-7(6), 6-1, 6-0.

The 19th ranked Del Potro is on a collision course to face Djokovic in the third round in what would be a marquee match-up that early in the event. The 2009 U.S. Open winner has been making some solid progress since missing most of the 2010 season due to injury and is certainly going to be back in the top ten, perhaps even top five if he continues at this rate.

Del Potro refused to speculate on facing Djokovic and gave the classic "one match at a time" answer when pressed.

"Yeah, I know that. But first I will have to play against Cilic. Will be very difficult match for both.  We know each other since juniors. We play many, many times. It's really difficult match for me because he knows everything about my game, and I know many things about his game, too. But first I have to beat him and then I will thinking if I have another match. Before (Djokovic), Cilic in the next round."

The final match of the night was between fan-favorite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Fabio Fognini. The Frenchman advanced with some second set difficulty but was able to make Fognini the third in a trifecta of Italians to be bounced from the tournament. The final score was 6-4, 7-6(0). Tsonga was visited by the trainer in the second set when down a break and appeared to have - no joke - his head checked. Tsonga stuck around after the match to hit a few balls with a local wheelchair tennis player in a nice moment to end the evening.

One noticeable no-show today was birthday boy Roger Federer. With a bye in the first round he is not scheduled to play until Wedneday so we will have to wait until then to discuss how he feels about turning the big 3-0.

 

 

Men's Rogers Cup Preview

Djokovic and Nadal at the Rogers Cup. Photo Credit Jennifer Knapp.

By Mike McIntyre

After a five week hiatus from the ATP World Tour, the superstars of the circuit are ready to make their presence felt as the Rogers Cup in Montreal is set to begin play on Monday.

Newly crowned number one Novak Djokovic was on site Saturday for a brief media appearance alongside Rafael Nadal to christen, oddly enough, some new green clay courts that Tennis Canada has built on-site. The courts will serve to aid young Canadian players develop confidence on a surface that they rarely succeed on.

Djokovic and Nadal will not be playing together in doubles as they did a year ago when the men played in Toronto. While they were ranked one and two in the world at the time, their rivalry has taken a more serious dynamic with Djokovic beating Nadal in their five previous encounters.

The draw is a tough one for just about everybody in this format, where players will be on court almost every single day. With rain in the forecast early in the week the potential for double-duty also presents itself.

In the top quarter Djokovic will begin the event with a bye followed by a difficult match potentially against Nikolay Davydenko who opens against a qualifier. While Davydenko has been a shell of his former self since returning to the tour following a lengthy layoff in 2010, he still has the ability to test any of the top players and has a respectable 2-3 career head-to-head against the Serb. 

Djokovic's maiden appearance in Canada in 2007 was a self-described key point in the Serb's ascension to the top of the game. There he beat the top three players in the world one after another in Andy Roddick, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

Speaking on his past success at the Rogers Cup, Djokovic said, "I have very nice memories especially from Montreal where I won the title in 2007 and in some ways started this great four years in my career."

Beyond Davydenko things do not get any easier as Juan Martin Del Potro is his likely third round opponent. Del Potro has steadily been improving since he returned from his own wrist injury which kept him off the tour for eight months in 2010.

Gael Monfils, John Isner and Viktor Troicki are all included in this very difficult top quarter in Montreal. An opening round match between the big-serving Isner and former Aussie Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis is sure to be one worth watching.

In the next quarter we find Roger Federer, a man who is going to be facing dozens of awkward questions about his birthday Monday, where he will officially break into his thirties. Never-mind the fact that the world number three has made the semis in Australia, the finals in Paris and the quarters at Wimbledon - he is sure to be hounded with queries about his inevitable demise.

Federer is eager to finish the year strong and cap it off with a Grand Slam just as he did in 2008. That year he had been unable to win a Slam as well by this point in the season, but finished solid in New York and then returned to form in 2009 by winning his first French Open and another Wimbledon.

He opens in the second round here in Montreal against the victor between clay-courter Juan Ignacio Chela and Canadian youngster Vasek Pospisil (who defeated the duo of Djokovic/Nadal last year with partner Milos Raonic in doubles).

In the third round Roger might have to deal with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga again in a rematch of their Wimbledon quarter-final. Bernard Tomic is also in the realm of potential third round opponents while Richard Gasquet is the likely quarter-final challenge for him. Eighth seeded Nicolas Almagro is the other player with a bye in Federer's quarter, but usually only excels on the red dirt of Europe.

In the other half of the draw we have Andy Murray and Mardy Fish receiving first round exemptions in their quarter. Fish will get the winner of Radek Stepanek (a finalist at the moment in Washington) or Feliciano Lopez. Murray will see either Pablo Andujar (a wildcard) or more likely big-serving Kevin Anderson. Given Murray's string of two consecutive Rogers Cups, I'd say he has the definite edge to emerge from this part of the draw.

This section is also littered with veterans like David Nalbandian (who won a practice set today 7-6(4) against Ivo Karlovic), and Juan Carlos Ferrero (seen practicing with Tomas Berdych). Other talented players include Mikhail Youzhny, Ernests Gulbis and Stan Wawrinka. The first round match to keep an eye on here would be Nalbandian vs. Wawrinka. Gulbis vs. Ferrero could also be entertaining while serve and volleyer Michael Llodra could give Youzhny some fits. 

Finally at the bottom of the entire draw is where world number two Rafael Nadal finds himself. He will open in the second round against either Ivan Dodig or Jeremy Chardy - a good way to ease back into competition. Nadal looked to be at times favoring his foot during a practice session with Juan Monaco earlier today. He will be available to the media on Sunday and we'll try to get some more info on that.

Nadal could have fellow-Spaniard Fernando Verdasco in the third round while a quarter-final against Berdych, the 7th seed, seems possible. Berdych will have to contend with Alexandr Dolgopolov perhaps in round two and Gilles Simon in round three. Any of those three players could equally emerge to face Nadal.

Ok, if you're looking for picks here I'm going to choose the predictable route. How can you not after the way the top-four have been playing? Djokovic has been on fire all year long with the exception of his one loss to Federer in Paris, so he's almost a sure-shot to make it to the semis. Federer has a great draw and I'm certain he's itching for another crack at Tsonga. A Djokovic/Federer hard-court semi-final will be the dream of fans and tournament organizers alike here in Montreal. I think they'll get it.

On the other side, Murray's performance in the past in Canada and the lead-up to the U.S. Open is well known and should continue. Fish has played a lot of tennis this summer and might not be able to put in 110% with some lingering soreness from Los Angeles. I'd pick Murray over him even if Fish was feeling perfectly rested.

Nadal is giving me some doubts with his behavior in practice today. If his body holds up then you have to think he'll be in the final four as well, but if not look for Simon or Berdych to take his place instead.

Djokovic taking down Murray in the finals is the best you'll get out of me. Regardless, we're about to have a fantastic week of top-level tennis from the fabulous city of Montreal. Enjoy the Rogers Cup everyone and let the speculation for the U.S. Open begin!

2011 Australian Open Men's Preview

By Mike McIntyre

Welcome back everyone to another season of tennis on the ATP World Tour. After an amazingly short break we are back to business and the first Grand Slam of 2011 is already upon us.

A year ago we watched Roger Federer surge out of the gates by defeating Andy Murray (the pre-tournament favorite) in Melbourne in straight sets. After that, Roger faltered while Rafael Nadal reclaimed the number one ranking and three Grand Slams in a row. The year ended with Federer finishing strong at the Tour championships in London and he seems poised to continue along that path in the new year.

An early season victory in Doha against Nikolay Davydenko signals Federer is ready to push Nadal for the number one ranking once more. But as he approaches the age of thirty, Federer is well aware that father time is going to be knocking on his door with increased frequency.

As for Nadal, a recent bout with the flu has put his preparation for a "Rafa-Slam" in jeopardy. How healthy will the Spaniard be as he tries to win his fourth consecutive slam?

From my perspective, we are ripe to have a new Grand Slam champion here this year. Despite Federer's apparent return to brilliance, he is much more prone to faltering now than ever before. He has been beaten in the past year by players that never would have previously given him the slightest challenge. Players like Berdych, Davydenko, Hewitt, Monfils and Soderling all earned big wins over the Swiss master in 2010. Once that aura of invincibility has disappeared, anything can happen.

With Nadal's health questionable, there is no guaranteeing he will be able to hack numerous best-of-five set matches in the tough Australian heat. He is susceptible to an early round upset depending on his fitness and if he endures those opening rounds will be forced to face some very difficult players in the quarter and semi-finals.

Nadal opens the main draw against Marcos Daniel of Brazil who is ranked 93rd in the world and is not exactly known for his hard-court abilities. In fact, Daniel was unable to amass a single victory on cement in 2010. Even Nadal at 50% is going to steamroll this guy in the opening round without a doubt.

Nadal could get Feliciano Lopez in round three and Marin Cilic or John Isner in the fourth round. David Ferrer or David Nalbandian could await in the quarter-finals. Nalbandian has given Nadal problems in the past, and both he and Ferrer faced-off in the finals of Auckland yesterday where Ferrer emerged victorious. The bottom line is that both players are feeling pretty good early on this year and will make Rafa work hard to earn a win against them.

In the semi-finals Nadal has players like Andy Murray, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Robin Soderling among his potential opponents. All of those foes are in the second quarter of the draw which promises to be a brutal one to navigate through. A Soderling vs. Tsonga round of sixteen match is possible as well as a Del Potro vs. Murray. Wow!

In the bottom half of the draw, fans will likely be cheering for a Roddick vs. Djokovic quarter final, followed by that winner taking on Federer in the semi-finals.

Roddick made the finals in Brisbane a week ago where he fell to Soderling. Djokovic played in the Hopman Cup but against lower opponents, so it is tough to gauge where his game is at just yet. Three years removed from his only Slam win however and we're all still waiting for the Serb to get it together and prove himself to be more than Rafa and Roger's understudy.

Don't forget about other big names in the bottom half of the draw like Tomas Berdych, Gael Monfils and Nikolay Davydenko. This is the year where one of these guys could finally make it happen for the first time at a Grand Slam.

While we can expect the possibility of a Rafa vs. Roger final, I suggest being open to something quite different in two week's time. The stage is set and starting tomorrow we will see the first matches of our favorite kind of tennis take place - Grand Slam tennis! Sit back and enjoy the show.

 

 

Around The Corner: Sydney and Auckland

By Mike McIntyre

Medibank International - Sydne, Australia 

American Sam Querrey has the top seed and enjoys a first round bye. He will face either Alexandr Dolgopolov (who lost to Roddick in Brisbane) or a qualifier in his first match. It will be interesting to watch Querrey this year and see if the 23 year old is ready to take another big step forward. 2010 saw him win tournaments on all three surfaces, so expectations are high.

Gilles Simon looks to be the toughest opponent in Querrey's section of the draw and the two could face-off in the third round. Simon is a former top-ten player, though he is not seeded in this event after sustaining a lackluster 2010 season.

Ernests Gulbis is the third seed and is also in the top-half of the draw, but somebody remind me when he last accomplished anything worthwhile on the circuit.

Marcos Baghdatis is the defending champion in Sydney and is seeded second this year. He gets the winner of Potito Starace and Julien Benneteau. Look for the Frenchman Benneteau to possibly give him trouble in round two.

Juan Martin Del Potro has a wildcard into the tournament and gets Feliciano Lopez, the eight seed, in a tough first round match. After missing the majority of 2010 with a wrist injury, it is going to be fun to watch a healthy Del P and see if he bounces back this season. It will be nice to see him back near the top of the rankings and giving guys like Nadal and Federer a good run for their money.

Heineken Open - Auckland, New Zealand

World No. 7 David Ferrer of Spain takes the number one position in Auckland and gets a bye in the first round. He will open against either Tobias Kamke or a qualifier in round two. Philipp Kohlscrhreiber the eighth seed looks like potential trouble in the top-half of the draw while veteran Tommy Robredo is also present though unseeded.

In the bottom half clay-court guru Nicolas Almagro is the number two seed while John Isner is the third seed. The tall American returns to Auckland as the defending champion where he won his first ever ATP World Tour title. In the finals a year ago he saved a match point en-route to defeating Arnaud Clement.

David Nalbandian is also present and could cause some damage if he is healthy and fit to start the season. It seems something usually goes wrong with the Argentine in the early-goings of the tennis year, perhaps due to a lack of proper preparation or maybe just due to his chronic misfortune with injuries.

All in all a pretty nice draw in Auckland this year and one of several players involved could walk away with the title.

Kooyong Classic

Though not an official ATP tournament, the Kooyong Classic usually has some top-level talent on display. The annual exhibition offers up some pretty nice prize money to entice tour players to play.

This year they boast a lineup of Jurgen Melzer, Nikolay Davydenko, Gael Monfils, Lleyton Hewitt, Mikhail Youzhny, Tomas Berdych, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Fernando Verdasco in the tournament.

The draw has not yet been revealed but winners advance to the championship side while losers are relegated to the consolation section where they still are able to get a couple of matches under their belt prior to heading to Melbourne.

Enjoy the tennis and stay tuned for our Australian Open preview in a week's time.

Around The Corner: ATP Season Ready to Go

By Mike McIntyre

Brisbane International

Robin Soderling arrives in Brisbane as the number one seed. Earlier this week in Abu Dhabi he defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Tomas Berdych, while losing to Roger Federer in a tight three set match. It seems like he is off to a solid start and should be considered the favorite in this tournament.

Soderling will face a qualifier in the opening round this week and has only Mardy Fish as a real threat in his half of the draw. That duo could meet in the semi-finals.

In the bottom half, defending champion Andy Roddick is the number two seed and faces Marinko Matosevic, an Australian wildcard, in the first round. Roddick's draw is much tougher than Soderling's as he will face either Igor Andreev or Alexandr Dolgopolov in the second round. A potential quarter-final match against Marcos Baghdatis also looms followed by either Fernando Verdasco, Gilles Simon or Feliciano Lopez in the semi's. Repeating as champion will be no easy task for Roddick but if he can get to the finals it will be a sign that he is clearly ready to play in 2011.

Aircel Chennai Open

Also fresh from Abu Dhabi is number one seed Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic. He will face Frederico Gil in the first round and could see Jeremy Chardy in the quarter-finals. For a player who was invisible in many tournaments a year ago, Berdych needs to take this opportunity in Chennai to show he is a true top-ten guy.

Third seeded Stan Wawrinka is also in the top half of the draw and must have been a late entry because he is using one of the wildcard's for the tournament.

In the bottom half, Xavier Malisse the 7th seed could face 4th seeded Richard Gasquet in one quarter-final while 6th seeded Janko Tipsarevic and 2nd seed Marin Cilic could square-off in the other.

Cilic is aiming to win his third Chennai Open in a row, which would make him the only player to have ever accomplished that feat at the Indian event. In 2010 he defeated Wawrinka in the finals and in 2009 it was Somdev Devvarman he took out.

Exxon Mobil Open - Qatar

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer continue their historic rivalry by opening the 2011 ATP World Tour season in Doha, Qatar.

Fresh off an exhibition tournament victory in nearby Abu Dhabi, Nadal is seeded first and will face Karol Beck in the first round.

At the Mubadala Tennis Championships, Nadal defeated Tomas Berdych and then Federer to show that he is ready to go on the hard courts.

Here in Doha he will have to get through the likes of Ernests Gulbis, Nikolay Davydenko and perhaps Philipp Kohlschreiber in order to advance to an anticipated final match-up against Federer.

A year ago Davydenko defeated both Federer and Nadal en route to the title. Do no expect a similar result this year as the veteran Russian's game has taken a sharp turn for the worse over the past eight months.

In the bottom half of the draw, Federer opens the tournament against a qualifier. He then has players such as Viktor Troicki and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in his path who could pose him some problems.

I'm somewhat surprised in the weak field that Doha has to offer given the fact they have much more prize money to offer than the other two level 250 tournaments that the ATP has this week. Chalk it up to the distance that players must travel to get to the Middle East and then proceed to Australia I suppose.

Look forward to the Federer/Nadal final in a week's time. I'd be quite surprised if either player was unable to advance to that stage.

As for fans of players like Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin Del Potro, you'll have to wait a bit longer to see these stars in action. Del Potro will take to the courts in a week in Sydney, while I've yet to see any indication of where Murray or Djokovic will be playing. They do not appear in the player list for any tournaments leading up to the Aussie Open, nor have they signed up for the Kooyong Classic exhibition at this point in time.

 

ATP World Tour Top Ten Predictions

By Mike McIntyre

The 2011 ATP World Tour season is soon to be upon us. Tournaments in Brisbane, Chennai and Doha get things started just after the New Year arrives and the first Grand Slam begins in Melbourne on January 17th.

Soon we will see who has come prepared to defend their ranking points from 2010 and who is ready to make some gains on their previous results. Let's take a look into the crystal ball and see who might be poised for a top-ten finish in the coming year. These are the top-ten season ending rankings for 2011 as predicted by ProTennisFan.

1 - Roger Federer

You'd have to be crazy to pick someone other than Rafael Nadal to finish number on in the world, no? Well hear me out first because I think there is a very real possibility for Roger to reclaim the number one ranking in 2011.

Rafa was by far the most dominant player last season as he won three Grand Slams and three Masters 1000 titles. Basically, Nadal will have to be just as consistent this coming year in order to defend all of those points. He will also have to stay healthy which is never a given for the Spaniard due to his rugged style of play.

Federer meanwhile started 2010 with a bang by capturing his only Slam of the year. After that he failed to win another tournament until the Masters event in Cincinnati in August. He ended the year as the toughest player on tour by winning three of the final four events he entered, including the ATP World Tour Finals in London where he knocked off Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Robin Soderling and Nadal while only losing a single set.

Federer is hungry to reclaim the number one spot and certainly finished 2010 by sending out a message to the other players on tour. While he will be turning 30 this coming year, he is by no means slowing down. After Australia he has the ability to make huge gains in the rankings due to his lackluster performance during that stretch a year ago. Look for Roger to be back on top of the rankings a year from now.

2 - Rafael Nadal

The Nadal and Federer show will undoubtedly maintain it's stronghold on the upper echelon of men's tennis for another season. Both are a world apart from everyone else and I expect their reign of Grand Slam supremacy to continue in 2011. While Nadal might slip slightly from his incredible run in 2010, he will still be fighting with Federer for the top spot in the rankings. A very close number-two finish is what I predict for the Spaniard this year. Beyond this year however, I see Nadal holding that number one ranking for a good stretch.

3 - Novak Djokovic

Almost three years since winning his first Grand Slam and we are still waiting for the talented Serb to win another. Last year was not an overwhelming success for Djokovic as he won only two titles and was 1-4 against Federer and 0-2 against Nadal. His one victory over Federer was an impressive one at the U.S. Open but he could not mount a serious attack against Nadal in the final. Djokovic's season highlight was in leading Serbia to the Davis Cup title over France, but he will have to win another Slam for people to take him more seriously. There seems to be a lack of forward progression for Djokovic and I see his ranking at a standstill in 2011. That being said it is difficult to move your ranking up when you've got mega-stars like Federer and Nadal in front of you.

4 - Robin Soderling

Two French Open finals in a row have shown that Soderling is a true threat on tour. The fact that he has shown such improvements on clay is quite impressive as his game is more suited for hard or grass courts. Soderling also won his very first Master 1000 event in Paris towards the end of 2010. He won't challenge the Federer's, Nadal's or Djokovic's just yet but he is going to be a top five fixture for some time.

5 - Andy Murray

When he wants to (see Shanghai and Toronto 2010), Andy Murray looks almost unbeatable. Unfortunately more often than not last season, the dour Scott looked like he wanted to be anywhere but on a tennis court. Poor showings in three of the four Grand Slams and eight months into the season before winning a title showed that Murray has a long way to go in terms of establishing his legacy. While he might have Federer's number in most of their encounters on tour, he still finds a way to tank every time the pair meet in a high-stakes match. 2011 needs to be a big year from Murray in order to take a step forward and I don't see that happening quite yet.

6 - Andy Roddick

It was an up and down season in 2010 for Andy Roddick. He started off on fire by winning in Adelaide, reaching the quarter-finals of the Aussie Open and then the finals of the Masters 1000 event in Indian Wells followed by a win at the Masters 1000 in Miami. Then the American missed the entire clay-court season leading up to Roland Garros and lost early at both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open while also suffering from a mild case of Mono. He dropped out of the top ten in August leaving the Tour without an American presence there for the first time since 1973. Roddick still managed to make the year end Tour Championships in London for a remarkable eighth year in a row.

After working hard in the off-season Roddick is hungry to prove he still belongs in the top ten. I expect another strong start to the season on the hard courts from Roddick, followed by perhaps a bigger push on clay to avoid losing his rythm in the middle of the season.

7 - Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

A healthy Tsonga belongs in the top-ten without a doubt. After reaching his first and only Grand Slam final in Australia three years ago it has been a constant struggle for the 25 year old. He started strongly in 2010 by making the semis at the Aussie Open, had a decent spring and then made the quarter-finals at Wimbledon before missing three months due to a knee injury. His results since then were about as much as you could expect from someone coming back late in the season. If he can stay healthy in 2011, lookout.

8 - Gael Monfils

Another talented Frenchman who when healthy is a serious contender to win a Grand Slam at some point during his career. Staying healthy is going to be a perpetual challenge for the acrobatic Monfils, who often choses the most crowd-enticing display of athleticism when a simple shot would likely suffice.

Monfils was able to creep close to the top-ten in 2010 by turning in some wonderful late-season performances. He finished with a great run at the Masters 1000 event in Paris, where he defeated Andy Murray and Roger Federer before falling to Robin Soderling in the final. This marked the first time he had ever defeated Federer on the ATP World Tour. The first seven months of last year were quite unspectacular, which means that Monfils has many ranking points he could gain in the early part of 2011.

9 - Tomas Berdych

After years of talking about how much potential and raw talent Berdych possessed, he finally delivered in 2010 by making the semi-finals of the French Open and then followed that up with the first Grand Slam final of his career at Wimbledon. While he went down quietly to Nadal in that match, it proved that Berdych can put a good string of matches together when it counts.

Earlier in the year Berdych reached the finals of the Miami Masters 1000 tournament (L. Roddick) but otherwise was fairly transparent in most other events. Berdych will have a huge amount of points to defend in back-to-back Slams this year, but can also add to his totals with modest improvements in his consistency throughout the year. Another top-ten finish is certainly attainable.

10 - Sam Querrey

Querrey has proven he can win on any surface on the ATP World Tour as long as it is at the 250 level. It is now time for the young American to prove that he can compete at a higher level and I think he is getting close to doing just that. He defeated Andy Roddick and Andy Murray in 2010 which should give him a good boost of confidence in those bigger matches. While Querrey is my long-shot pick to make the top-ten, I think he has the goods to deliver in the coming year.