Federer Speaks About Back Injury in Qatar

Here is the link to the Roger Federer press conference on Friday January 6th where he discusses his reasons for pulling out of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open due to a back injury.

The world No. 3 withdrew after sustaining the injury in his second round match against Grega Zemlja and it got worse during his quarter final victory against Andreas Seppi. Federer was scheduled to play against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the semi finals which would have surely been a high-level match.

Instead Tsonga played a one-set exhibition match against former six-time Grand Slam champion Stefan Edgerg.

Federer is not scheduled to play again until the Australian Open which begins on January 16th in Melbourne.

Roger Federer Withdraws from Doha with Back Injury

By Mike McIntyre

Roger Federer was forced to pull-out of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open on Friday due to a back injury he sustained in his second round match against Grega Zemlja and one that he aggravated in the quarter-finals against Andreas Seppi.

Federer was supposed to play against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France for a spot in the finals but recognized the possibility to further aggravate the injury and made the decision to prevent missing the Australian Open which begins January 16th.

Federer has made it a point of avoiding injury for the better part of his stellar professional career, but something was clearly wrong as he was stretched to three sets against the 38th ranked Seppi on Thursday. Federer had held a 7-0 career head-to-head against the Italian prior to the match and had never lost a set in any of those encounters.

It was Swiss journalist and Federer biographer, Renee Stauffer, who broke the news of the back injury via twitter shortly after that match.

Stauffer's tweet read as follows, “Federer has a bad back: ‘I wasn’t sure if i was going to play ag Seppi’, he revealed in Doha. It happened ag Zemlja (Wednesday).”

Speaking to reporters after the official announcement on  Friday, Federer revealed the decision to pull-out of the tournament was very much related to the importance of the next few weeks.

"I don't feel a whole lot of improvement for today, and I just don't think it's the right time to risk anything more right now," Federer said. "I still have pain, and that's why it was the only right decision, a difficult one for me … So it's a sad moment for me and for the tournament and for the fans, but health goes first."

The injury withdrawal is only the second time Federer has had to do so in his career but fans should not worry as the world No. 3 seemed pretty confident he would be fine for Melbourne with a little time-off to heal.

"For Australia, I'm optimistic, just because it's not very good but it isn't crazy bad," Federer said. "I have had bad backs in the past. This is definitely not very good; otherwise I would be playing. But I feel without play and the right treatment, I will get through it in the next few days."

Instead of the semi-final, Tsonga played a one-set exhibition match against former world No. one and six-time Grand Slam champion Stefan Edberg.

In the other semi-final Gael Monfils upset Rafael Nadal by a score of 6-3, 6-4 to advance to play against Tsonga for the title.

Federer's withdrawal guarantees a new champion in Doha this year, as the Swiss star had won the event a year ago.

ATP World Tour 2012 Ready To Go

By Mike McIntyre

Hello tennis fanatics and welcome to the start of the 2012 season on the ATP World Tour!

While it was only a few short weeks ago that we last heard from our favorite tennis professionals, the stage is set for the debut of another exciting year in the sport we love so dearly.

Everyone with the exception of Novak Djokovic, will be looking forward to building upon their accomplishments from a year ago. How could Djokovic possibly do better than he did last season? The Serbian world number one had arguably one of the greatest tennis seasons of all-time in 2011 and will be hard-pressed to match that level of excellence in back-to-back years. There is no doubt who has a target on his back as the season begins.

With an end-of-year that was marred by shoulder problems and the loss of the incredible momentum that saw him win three Grand Slams, it will be very interesting to see how the Djoker begins 2012 both physically and mentally.

World number two Rafael Nadal ended last year with a Davis Cup victory for Spain, while number three Roger Federer went undefeated after the U.S. Open with a record of 17-0. Andy Murray sits at the number four position and typically starts the year quite strongly down-under. These guys are going to be hungrier than ever for the first Slam of the season.

Add to the mix a resurgent Juan Martin Del Potro, a fearless Jo-Wilfried Tsonga along with a slew of hungry Americans like Mardy Fish, Andy Roddick and John Isner and we've got all the right ingredients for another amazing year of tennis on the ATP World Tour.

The season begins with three tournaments in Australia, Qatar and India. Let's take closer look at what we have to look forward to.

 Brisbane International

Beginning right on New Year's day, the Brisbane International tournament was resurrected in 2009 after a fourteen year absence. Notably missing this year will be defending champion Robin Soderling of Sweden. The world's thirteenth ranked player has not played a match since he won the title in Bastad in his home country in July. Diagnosed with mononucleosis, he has already confirmed his withdrawal from the Australian Open. Unlike a typical physical injury, there is no way of knowing just how long this type of illness will prevent Soderling from playing on the tour. 

Instead, look for Andy Murray to lead the charge as the top seeded player. Murray will be looking to finally end his Grand Slam drought in 2012 and silence the numerous critics who feel like he should have already attained such an achievement at this point in his career.

Murray will be joined by other notable players such as Gilles Simon, Alexandr Dolgopolov, Marcos Baghdatis and Bernard Tomic in Brisbane. Veteran Tommy Haas is also in attendance and will be looking forward to a full season of good health no doubt.

Aircel Chennai Open

Stan Wawrinka made a great start to his season a year ago by winning the Aircel Chennai Open in India for the first time. His victory snapped a two year streak of Croatia's Marin Cilic hoisting the trophy there.

Both former champions will be back in the draw in 2012 and joined by the likes of Jankko Tipsarevic who was absolutely on-fire last season, Nicolas Almagro who is normally better-suited to playing on clay, and Canadian sensation Milos Raonic who was named the ATP's newcomer of the year in  2011.

Qatar Exxon Mobil Open

Also starting on January 2nd will be a tournament of equal ranking points but quite a bit more prize money in Doha, Qatar. Something tells me that extra cash incentive is the reason we might be seeing so many of the top players in the world present in the draw this year.

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer will both be there to begin their pursuit of the number one ranking. Add Frenchmen Jo-Wilfrid Tsonga and Gael Monfils to the mix as well as quality players such as Viktor Troicki,  Mikhail Youzhny and Nikolay Davydenko and you can count on some great matches in the scorching heat of the desert.

Check back with us at ProTennisFan in the next few days as we will have a full draw analysis of these upcoming events. You can also follow us on Twitter for regular updates as play begins.

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)

Canadian Pospisil Beaten by Idol Federer

By Mike McIntyre

Young Canadian Vasek Pospisil saw his good start at the Rogers Cup end on Wednesday by none other than the man he grew up idolizing, Roger Federer.

The two played the opening match on Centre Court in Montreal to almost a full-house and the Canuck did not disappoint his fans as he came out ready to play.

The pair remained even up until 5-5 in the first set with Pospisil appearing devoid of any nerves one might expect a player of his age (21) and ranking (155) to bring with him. Federer meanwhile was just trying to find his game after having not played since a Davis Cup match for Switzerland that was just over a month ago. 

Federer starting picking it up in the late stages of the first set and Pospisil finally displayed some tightness while serving to stay in the frame at 5-6. A double-fault, a back-hand sent well long, a poor approach shot that left him stranded mid-court as a Federer forehand sailed by and another back-hand error into the net sealed his fate and gave Roger the crucial break and first set 7-5.

In the second set the pace seemed to pick-up and Federer's game began really clicking. Pospisil was unable to slow down his opponent's momentum nor stick with him as he had earlier in the match. Federer would pull-off the victory by a score of 7-5, 6-3. With the win Federer improves to 783-183 in his career win-loss ratio for a healthy +600 differential.

Pospisil can hold his head up high though as he has established himself as a top-150 player for the first time in his career and held his own against arguably the greatest player of all-time. Many expected the youngster might be routed today but instead he showed he is not out of place against a top-three player like Federer. 

Next up for Roger is a re-match against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the man who defeated him in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon in June. Tsonga defeated young Australian prospect Bernard Tomic to advance in straight sets 6-3, 7-6.

 

Roger Federer Press Conference Transcript from Montreal

By Mike McIntyre

Here is a copy of Roger Federer's last press conference from his 20s. This was done on Sunday August 7th in Montreal at the Rogers Cup prior to the start of the tournament.

Q: How important is it to have a good atmosphere on the tour among the players and how much do you think you have contributed to that?

A: Well look, I mean, at the end of the day you don’t really care how good the atmosphere is. You’re there to play matches and tennis and if you have friends on the tour it helps but otherwise you have your team to kind of go back to. But I think it is nice to have it friendly, it just makes it more nice for everybody I think, makes it nicer to play matches, to have fair-play, to feel all that stuff. But you don’t need to necessarily like all of the top hundred players you know? You can get around that very easily and I think it’s also good that there are differences in personalities. But I think its become quite friendly, I don’t know how it used to be before, but at least among the top players it seems like we get along pretty well. That might be a good thing it might be a bad thing – whatever you call it. But I came through now and I’m happy the way it is.

Q: Any reason you didn’t go to Dubai this year (after Wimbledon)?

A: Yeah, because of kids it’s too hot really for them. I mean I don’t mind it but two year olds in 45 degrees? I want to acclimatize them early to hot weather maybe not that early quite yet. It was nice in Switzerland, wonderful weather and all our friends and families are there who want to see the girls so it was much better this way.

Q: Rogers some athletes at world championships or Olympics they try to peak for. As you get ready for the U.S. Open, the quality of competition you get here and in Cincinnati you really can’t sort of aim for a peak can you because you have to be at a terrific level for this event because it’s a 1000, then you get Cincinnati and then you get the U.S. Open. When do you try to gear up for the Slam then?

A: Well, I mean, am I going to play my absolute best here in the first round here? Probably not because I’ve come off, you know, four or five weeks layover and haven’t played any matches on hard-court yet this season. But it’s the same situation for many of the top players right now. So, I think it’s really important is to get through the early rounds here, to get a feel for where you’re at and then sort of after two, three, four matches, this is really when you start playing some seriously good tennis I think because you are mentally fresh to go again. You are physically now in a good shape and know what to expect, and then you know, looking forward to maybe potential semis, finals or then another tournament in Cincinnati or the U.S. Open I think it gives you great excitement and energy. But I think a tennis player is used to travelling you know, eleven months of the year to peak at particular times. I still think too many players sometimes are just going through their motions on a yearly basis. I’m not talking so much about the top players but especially about the other players who always try to win points everywhere. And I think sometimes you’re better advised as well just taking some rest, practicing really hard and then coming back when you’re really feeling good again. But I know that’s harder to do when you’re a bit lower ranked but I think there sometimes players tend to do mistakes because like you say you can’t peak every week it’s just not physically and mental possibly that’s why you’ve got to pick your battles really.

Q: Roger often we see the top players enter into the doubles competition here. Why did you decide not to perhaps get a little extra match time in the doubles draw and is there any truth that you might play with Martina Hingis in the mixed event in the Olympics next year?

A: Yeah I mean the doubles is always how do I feel? Do I need matches like you say, but I feel like here and the back to back Montreal/Cincinnati is always a tough one to do. I remember I played doubles here or in Toronto maybe three or four years ago with Stan but I was trying to get some doubles in before the Olympics and so I go week by week. It didn’t even cross my mind to play doubles here. It’s just one of those things I decide short term like I did in Indian Wells where I was like you know what, let’s do it, I feel like that could be a fun week to do. Maybe I’ll do something in the fall again it all depends on how you feel physically and all that stuff. So, yeah I’ve really not played a lot of doubles the last few years even though I enjoy it. It’s just a bit much with all the press I have to do and family and the travelling and energy and all that stuff so I just sometimes choose not to do it.

And then for the Olympics, I mean we’ll see. I haven’t even spoken to Martin yet so it’s obviously going to be extremely difficult to play all three events so we’ll see when I’ll speak to her. I haven’t reached out to her yet. There was somewhat of a deal made in the press about it. When I heard there was mixed in the Olympics I was just like, well someone just check if she would or could or whatever and the next thing you know it’s like – this big news came out. We’re nowhere close to doing anything so we’ll see where it goes.

Q: Rogers do you think it’s tougher to get to number one or to get back to number one?

A: Depends who you are I guess, I don’t know. For me it was hard getting there in the first place. I thought that actually here I had a huge match back in 2003 with Roddick in the semis that would have guaranteed me the world number one ranking and I…I don’t know if I choked or not but I definitely was extremely nervous after Agassi I think lost to Rainer Schuettler and that gave me a chance then to beat Roddick and get to world number one and I couldn’t handle it almost even though I lost 7-6 in the third. I was so close but then I had to wait five to six months to win the World Tour finals in Houston, go on basically and get to the finals of the Australian Open to then get to number one so I just really feel that the world number one doesn’t really fall into your lap. You have to do something really special to get there, particularly the first time. Sure there’s times where maybe a Slam is enough or something and some other tournaments but at the moment it seems like you have to do something very good. What I had to do back then, what Rafa had to do, what Djokovic had to do. So I just think it shows how hard it is because you have to be consistently at a very high level at the biggest tournaments, so it’s tough.

Q: Would you find your hunger is the same now at thirty years old as it was say when you were twenty to get to that spot?

A: It’s different. The hunger is the same but it’s a different situation. It’s a different setup because you see things different. I know what it takes to get there, I know how I need to do it where as with 21, 22, you’re just trying, you’re trying different things but what falls into place and once it does you sort of follow that same line for a while as long as it’s working.

Q: Roger are you surprised at how Djokovic has been able to turn his game seemingly to a whole new level over the past twelve months and what do you think is the difference in the way he’s playing now to two or three years ago?

A: I’m not entirely surprised, no, because it’s not like he came out of nowhere you know? People sometimes make it sound like he was ranked 150 in the world and now all of a sudden he woke up from hibernation and is playing this really incredible tennis. That’s not what happened. He was already a Grand Slam champion before that, or he was winning a lot of matches. We were in a time where Rafa, myself, Murray and Djokovic were beating each other on and off. So I just think it’s impressive to see what kind of a run he went on. I mean that’s impressive. We knew he could play tennis, we all knew that. That he could be consistent, we knew that too. We knew he was a great player but it’s been great for the game to see him string it all together. Its been something rare that hasn’t been done very often or ever before to see someone go on such a long winning streak and that’s been somewhat fun to see because you wonder how long is it going to last and all those things. But you know margins are small, I’m sure he could have lost many matches along the way as well which he didn’t, because of confidence and because he’s playing so well but everybody is just waiting to beat him now too. Things are not going to get easier but still an incredible year from him obviously.

Federer Still Hungry at Thirty

By Mike McIntyre

Roger Federer quietly turned thirty yesterday in Montreal and managed to avoid the plethora of media questions that would undoubtedly have awaited to press him on the milestone moment. Instead the world's number three player and all-time Grand Slam record holder had a very brief hit on Centre Court in the afternoon during a time when the stadium was closed to spectators.

Federer's absence from the spotlight was not a snub. The Swiss star does not play his first match until Wednesday thanks to a first round bye. He will open his tournament against either Juan Ignacio Chela or Canadian Vasek Pospisil, who play each other later today.

In a short media session on Sunday, Federer touched upon turning thirty but seemed to be a man who was un-bothered by breaking the threshold of a new decade despite the fact it is an age where most tennis players begin to decline in professional tennis. His hunger to achieve more results is still as present as ever although he admitted that it has changed slightly.

"It’s different. The hunger is the same but it’s a different situation," said Federer. "It’s a different setup because you see things different. I know what it takes to get there, I know how I need to do it where as with 21, 22...you’re trying different things."

Federer still knows he can compete with Djokovic and Nadal despite his younger opponents noticeable advantage in points in the rankings. He can take comfort in the fact that he is the only player on the tour to have beaten Djokovic this year. He can also compare his lack of winning a major thus far in 2011 to three years ago where he was in a similar position. That year he rebounded by capturing the U.S. Open at the end of the summer to salvage what many considered to be a disappointing season by his usual standards.

One of Federer's great accomplishments over his career has been his resilience to ignore whatever the media has written about him and find a way to remain at or near the top of the sport. As Jimmy Connors said yesterday when he was on site for his Rogers Cup Hall of Fame induction, "...everybody thinks because he's not No. 1 and he's not winning 10 tournaments a year, which he did for so many years, very easy to build a guy up and get him to the top.  I was on your side, too, doing the television and everything.  Very easy to tear him down, which in a lot of cases is unfair."

Federer knows his place in history and is well aware of the fact that very few players have enjoyed Grand Slam success after turning thirty. At the same time he acknowledged that he has managed to avoid injuries and believes this will help him to continue to play at a very high level and remain a threat to win on the biggest stage. He referenced a player like Bjorn Borg who chose to retire before the age of thirty yet could have very likely continued to win big titles had he remained on tour longer.

Roger is clearly saying all the things that you would expect from a confident former champion. It never sounds like cliched rhetoric either with him. A strong showing here in Montreal and/or in Cincinnati  would certainly add to his unwavering self-belief as the U.S. Open approaches.

 

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!

Wimbledon Quarterfinal Preview

By Mike McIntyre

As expected the top four of Nadal, Djokovic, Federer and Murray have advanced to the final eight at Wimbledon. If Nada's foot is ready to go I think we'll certainly see another Grand Slam where the top guys are left standing in the semi-finals this weekend.

Nadal (if healthy) should be able to deal with Mardy Fish. Although Fish took out last year's finalist Tomas Berdych in straight sets, he has a daunting 0-5 career head-to-head with the world's number one player.

A positive for Fish is that the pair have not faced each other in nearly three years and I think we can all agree that Mardy has come a long way in that time. He is truly deserving of being the number one ranked American and will move up to a career best of 8th in the world when the new rankings are released next week.

British fans must be content with the performance of their man Andy Murray. He played superbly on Monday in front of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and defeated Richard Gasquet in straight sets. Murray faces third-time Wimbledon quarter-finalist Feliciano Lopez who has been serving great during these championships but just came through a tough five set match victory against Lukasz Kubot. Lopez trailed by two sets but was able to claw his way back into the match and prevail.

Lopez is 0-4 against Murray and has only taken one of nine sets off him in their previous matches. This will be their first encounter on grass and I don't see how Murray will not be able to quickly dispatch his opponent in this one.

Roger Federer just made his 29th straight Grand Slam quarterfinal and appears to also have the upper hand against his next foe in Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Federer leads their career head-to-head by a margin of 4-1, with the only loss being a tough three set affair in Canada back in 2009.

Federer lost his first set of the tournament against Mikhail Youzhny in the round of sixteen before correcting for a 6-7, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 victory that took three hours to complete. A day of rest should put him back to tip-top shape against Tsonga.

Novak Djokovic meanwhile has also been looking quite solid on grass and takes on the surprise of the men's draw this year in 18 year old Bernard Tomic of Australia. Tomic becomes the youngest player to reach the final eight at the All-England Club since a man by the name of Boris Becker back in 1986.

Tomic, who made it through qualifying, had this to say about his improbably run so far here this year:

"I never thought I'd be here the second week, especially in the quarter-finals. What a feeling and what a tournament it's been for me. It's an unbelievable achievement. I've learnt a lot. It's a great honour to do it here in Wimbledon. I'm at a position now where I've never been happier. I'm looking forward to playing on Wednesday."

Djokovic has never faced the young Aussie before which likely benefits Tomic. Still, with only one loss all season long I expect that Djokovic will dispatch his challenger and advance to a meeting with Federer that no one more than he himself is looking forward to with more ambition.

Stay tuned to ProTennisFan for regular updates as the men's draw nears its penultimate match this coming Sunday.