McIntyre Tennis

Australian Open Men's Draw Revealed

By: Mike McIntyre

The Australian Open draw was released on Thursday for both the men's and women's singles draws in Melbourne. For the men, 36 year old Roger Federer is the defending champion and will be considered the favorite among many with the match-status and conditioning of Djokovic, Nadal and Wawrinka all unknown as they return from injuries.

Let's take a look at the main contenders on the ATP side of things. Have a glance at your leisure at LeoVegas Sports as well for their take on the favorites in the first Grand Slam of the year.

Isn't it something that this year a 36 year old Roger Federer is considered the favorite for the first Grand Slam of the season. A year ago he was almost five years removed from his last major triumph. Then he went on a rampage winning in Melbourne, the two Masters 1000 titles in Indian Wells and Miami as well as Wimbledon after having skipped the entire clay court season.

This year he is the only stable one amongst the "Big Four" with Andy  Murray having withdrawn after surgery on his troublesome hip and with Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal and Stan Wawrinka still having yet to prove themselves as 100% fit after injury issues.

Nadal holds the top seed and has the easiest draw of the big names mentioned above. He opens against Victor Estrella Burgos and doesn't seem to have any noticeable threats until a potential fourth round match with American John Isner and Marin Cilic as his projected quarterfinal opponent. The top quarter is really wide open aside from those players and we should see several surprising names still alive into the third round.

The second quarter gets a little more tricky with third seed Grigor Dimitrov having to likely face either Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or Nick Kyrgios in the fourth round. A Dimitrov/Kyrgios affair would be a re-match of their recent semifinal at the Brisbane International that Kyrgios emerged victorious from en route to the title. Kyrgios is going to win Grand Slams at some point in his career I have almost no-doubt. With the established talents on the ATP World Tour still getting over their injuries, could this be the Slam for Kyrgios to have his breakthrough? Kevin Anderson and Jack Sock are my picks for the final quarterfinalist spot in this section of the draw but neither is expected to make-it much further. Anderson took advantage (and good for him) of a nice draw at the final Slam of 2017 in New York, but I don't see that story playing out again here for the South African.

In the third quarter of the draw, Novak Djokovic would normally be considered the overwhelming favorite to advance. However, the former World No. 1 and 12 time Slam champion has not played a competitive match since Wimbledon due to an elbow injury that shelved the rest of his season in 2017. Djokovic was back on the court this past week at the Kooyong Classic exhibition event and displayed a new service motion that clearly is the result of his recovery from surgery. How this will impact his ability to hold serve remains to be seen and he could just as easily win the tournament or bow out early due to his inactivity. Let's not forget though that the Aussie Open accounts for half of Djokovic's Grand Slam career totals.

The Serb opens against American Donald Young and has a potentially tricky second round match against Gael Monfils looming. Monfils started his 2018 campaign in the best possible way as he picked up the title in Qatar. That being said, Monfils has come up a discouraging 0-14 against Djokovic in ATP sanctioned events during his career. A fourth round match against Alexander Zverev would be fun to watch, although Zverev might first have to get past his older brother Mischa the 32nd seed. Also in this quadrant is 5th seeded Dominic Thiem - whom Djokovic just defeated in Kooyong -  as well as another former Slam winner in Melbourne, Stan Wawrinka. Currently seeded 9th due to his own injury absence from the tour since Wimbledon, Wawrinka has been very low-key in the days ahead of the tournament and it still remains to be seen whether or not he will be fit enough to play. 

Federer meanwhile is the No. 2 seed and the defending champ finds himself with a decent starting draw in the final quarter of the tournament but things will quickly get intense for the 36 year old legend. He went 4-0 in singles play and 4-0 in mixed doubles with Belinda Bencic at the Hopman Cup to start the year. The only set he lost in singles was the opener in his final match against Alexander Zverev that he recovered to win 6-7(4), 6-0, 6-2. In terms of seeded players at the Aussie Open, Federer could run into Richard Gasquet in the third round and then 2016 Wimbledon foe Milos Raonic in the fourth. Gasquet has not challenged Fed in the past 8 matches they have played and the Swiss star leads their head-to-head by a staggering margin of 16-2. While Raonic did indeed deny Federer the chance to face Andy Murray in the 2016 Wimbledon finals, the Canadian has struggled with injuries since then and did not look sharp in his opening round loss to Alex de Minaur in Brisbane a week ago. In terms of quarterfinal opposition, Federer has the likes of David Goffin, Juan Martin Del Potro and Tomas Berdych as likely candidates to challenge him. Goffin has a nice draw until the fourth round while Del Potro is likely the player Federer would least choose to face in this section given their past history. Federer narrowly leads their past nine encounters by a margin of 5-4.

Check back with us throughout the two week even that begins Monday January 15th for recaps, analysis and plenty of pictures as well. You can also follow us on Twitter for more timely updates. Regardless of who wins it is certainly an entertaining period for the sport as we get to see all the big names kick-off the first Grand Slam of the year. 

Gael Monfils and Gilles Simon Open 2018 with Titles

By Mike McIntyre

Score one for the old guys. Gael Monfils and Gilles Simon, 31 and 33 years old respectively, opened their 2018 campaigns in the best way possible by winning the first tournaments they entered. Monfils defeated Andrey Rublev 6-2, 6-3 in the finals of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open to win his first title since the Citi Open in Washington D.C. in the summer of 2016. Simon meanwhile knocked-off fellow vet Kevin Anderson 7-6(4), 6-2 to capture the trophy in Pune, India at the inaugural Tata Open Maharashtra to enter the winner's circle for the first time since he hoisted the trophy in Marseilles in 2015.

It was nice to see Monfils smiling at the end of a tournament again as the crafty Frenchman has seen his fair share of injuries over the course of his professional career. He beat Lorenzi, Struff, Gojowczyk and Rublev for the title, with a walk0ver in the semi-finals courtesy of an ill Dominic Thiem. It must feel especially satisfying to hoist the tophy for Monfils as he had been the runner-up in Doha on three previous occasions.

Simon struggled mightily in 2017 where he saw his ranking fall outside of the top 50 for the first time in over a decade. He assembled a less-than-stellar record of 16-25 overall last year. Starting the season ranked 89th in the world was not how Simon envisioned things yet he clearly put that aside in his run to the title. Along the way he defeated Sandgren, Bautista-Agut, Ojeda-Lara, Cilic and Anderson.

It is refreshing to see that with all the focus seemingly either on the "Big Four" or the ATP Next Gen in recent times, that the old-guard still has something to contribute to the conversation. Monfils and Simon - perhaps we should call them the "Last Gen" - reminded tennis fans this week that there is an in-between segment of the circuit who are still trying to leave their mark on the sport. With Andy Murray already out of the first Grand Slam of the year in Melbourne and both Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal seemingly not quite at 100% either, wouldn't it be something if it was a thirty-something not named Federer who contended for the Australian Open title later this month?  

While it would certainly be surprising to see Monfils or Simon in the finals of the Aussie Open, their recent victories will at the very least give them a nice boost of confidence to start the year, and perhaps a boost to their generational contemporaries as well.  

Australian Open Men's Quaterfinal Preview

By Mike McIntyre

We are down to the final eight players at the Australian Open and unlike on the women's side there are very few surprises up to this point. This should make for some very entertaining and hotly contested quarterfinal matches. Here is a quick breakdown of the four contests ahead of action on Tuesay and Wednesday in Melbourne.

Novak Djokovic (1) vs Kei Nishikori (7)

The undisputed favourite coming into the event and also the defending champion, Novak Djokovic suddenly seems like he may indeed be vulnerable after his five set win against Gilles Simon in the round of sixteen. Roger Federer was quick to defend Novak and his 100+ errors in that match saying that Simon has the tendency to make players go for broke on their shots, but none the less I don't think anyone quite expected it to get to a fifth set. Djokovic has defeated Chung, Halys, Seppi and Simon to get to the quarters and will face a stiff test from the 7th seeded Nishikori.

Nishikori has not yet gone the distance in any of his victories over Kohlschreiber, Krajicek, Garcia-Lopez or Tsonga and is perhaps a bit more rested than his adversary in this upcoming match. Beating a player of Tsonga's calibre by a score of 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 is quite impressive and bodes well for his confidence at this stage of the tournament. Djokovic leads the head to head by a margin of 5-2 including the last four in-a-row. Nishikori can draw strength from the fact that he has beaten Novak at a Grand Slam before, in the semifinals of the 2014 US Open.

I think anyone would be crazy to predict anything other than a victory for Djokovic in this one. That being said I also believe the possibility for an upset has increased somewhat due to the results in recent days. All in all I'm going with Novak in four.

 Roger Federer (3) vs Tomas Berdych (6)

This will be the seventh career meeting at the Slams between Federer and Berdych with Roger holding a 4-2 advantage, although Berdych has won their last two battles which came at the U.S. Open in 2012 and at Wimbledon in 2010. Overall Federer leads their career head to head 15-6 and has taken the last four in-a-row between them. A rejuvenated Federer won all three meetings in 2015 with ease, not dropping a set in any of those matches.

Federer has started 2016 fairly strongly with a loss to Milos Raonic in the finals of Brisbane and with four relatively convincing wins so far here at the Aussie Open. He has wins against Basilashvili, Dolgopolov, Dimitrov and Goffin to get to this stage. Even Roger knows that his window for winning an 18th major gets smaller and smaller with each passing Slam so that undoubtedly is providing him with a little extra incentive. Despite the fact that he still looks like he could play for another ten years, even Fed fans know realistically that is not going to happen. As he approaches the four year mark without a Slam victory, Federer needs to make something happen while the body is still co-operating.

Berdych has been most comfortable here at the Aussie Open where he has now made the quarter-finals or better the past six years straight. The Czech has beaten Bhambri, Basic, Krygios and Bautista-Agut to reach this point. If he's able to play his best and not get caught up in the fact that Roger has had his number of late, Berdych could move into the semifinals for a third straight year. I certainly give him a better shot of upsetting Federer than I give Nishikori versus Djokovic.

That being said, I'll take Roger in three sets given how he looks lately to set-up a final-like SF against Novak.

Milos Raonic (13) vs Gael Monfils (23)

You don't want to miss this one folks! Five sets written all over it and between two enormously different styles of tennis players. This match will have canon-like serves and circus-like acrobatics. An excellent opportunity for two players who have struggled with injuries to get some satisfaction with a semifinal appearance at a Slam. The pair have faced each other but twice before in their careers with Monfils coming up victorious both times. You can throw those results out the window however as both came before Raonic solidified himself as a top-level threat on the ATP World Tour. With a tournament win already under his belt this year and a new coach in Carlos Moya to provide a different perspective on things, I would say that the Canadian is the slight favourite coming into this quarterfinal match.

This is the fourth Grand Slam quarterfinal for Raonic who will be aiming to attain just the second major semifinal of his career. For Monfils meanwhile it is the seventh Slam quarterfinal, although most of those came on the clay of Roland Garros. Regardless of the result, I think this will be the most entertaining of the four matches to watch and I wouldn't want to miss it.

I'm giving the edge to Milos who will prevail in five sets.

Andy Murray (2) vs David Ferrer (8)

Not surprised one bit at the two who will be facing each other in this quarterfinal match. Soon to be father Andy Murray has always performed well at the first Slam of the year and this edition has been no exception. He has beaten Zverev, Groth, Sousa and Tomic to get to this stage and has only dropped one set along the way. It does not seem as though impending fatherhood has distracted him from his goal of winning the third Slam of his career.

Ferrer for his part has been even more workmanlike than Murray en route to his sixth Aussie Open QF. He has taken out Gojowczyk, Hewitt, Johnson and Isner to get here. He'll work his butt off against Murray but at age 33 I don't know if he truly has enough to take the No. 2 seed down.

Murray holds a 12-6 career edge against Ferrer, including the past five straight times they have played one another and eight of the past nine in total. In fact if you take the clay matches out of the equation, Ferrer has only defeated Murray twice. Expect that trend to continue and witness Murray advancing in four sets.

A Shocker of a French Open Preview

Spoiler alert - this French Open preview ends with Novak Djokovic capturing his maiden and elusive title at Roland Garros. That's right, our shocker of a preview delivers what pretty much every tennis "expert" and fan alike is already expecting to happen in two week's time. So how can we claim that this is somehow a surprise? Here's why...

With a record in Paris of 66-1, any prediction that strongly supports the notion that Rafael Nadal is not going to win the French Open must fall into the category of a shock. This man has won Roland Garros 9 of the past 10 years and I don't care one bit about the struggles he has been experiencing since he won here a year ago, he is still the man when it comes to this tournament. That being said, his reign is about to come to an end due to his recent lapses in confidence along with a world number one who is playing like a man among boys. If you're looking to bet on the French Open, Djokovic is your safest pick (and ours too!)

Here is our full-on French Open preview for you to enjoy and/or dismiss!

First Quarter

Djokovic opens against veteran Jarkko Nieminen. As a former Andre Agassi fan when I was younger I always relish seeing Nieminen lose at the French Open after the way he beat an injured Agassi in his final match at Roland Garros back in 2005. I expect a pretty quick exit for Nieminen in this match and I won't be complaining if that is the case. Djokovic should have a good first few matches with no real clay court threats in his path. Richard Gasquet is seeded 20th and could face Novak in the 4th round but Gasquet has not beaten Djokovic since 2007 so let's be honest here. Then it gets serious for Djokovic. That's because his quarter-final opponent could very well be Rafael Nadal. The match that nearly everyone would want to see in the finals is scheduled to happen two rounds sooner due to Rafa's ranking slide of late. However with the way Nadal has struggled this year, even on clay, there is no guarantee he will even be still standing by the time the quarters roll around. He has potential foes of Dolgopolov or Almagro in round two and Robredo or Dimitrov in the fourth round. Still, Nadal is 15-4 on clay this year which almost anybody else would be happy with. A meeting with Djokovic in the quarters is likely with the winner being the clear favorite moving forward.

Pick: Djokovic

Second Quarter

Andy Murray has had the best clay court season of his career and is 10-0 on red dirt so far this year. Murray was forced to withdraw in Rome due to exhaustion but has certainly overcome that and will be ready to improve on his semi-final result at Roland Garros a year ago. Murray will likely face a tough clay-court player in Joao Sousa in the second round and perhaps rising Australian star Nick Kyrgios in the third. Beyond that, American John Isner would be the highest seed to confront Murray in the fourth round and in the quarters the biggest potential threat for Murray would be the tough-as-nails David Ferrer. Ferrer already has titles on both clay and hard courts this year and while he is a step behind his usual self, he remains a player that nobody wants to face. Murray has never beaten Ferrer on clay in four previous attempts including a 2012 loss here at the French Open. This year however I would give the edge to Murray based on his streak coming in.

Pick: Murray

Third Quarter

Kei Nishikori is the 5th seed and could have a fun match in the third round against Fernando Verdasco. Feliciano Lopez, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Fabio Fognini and the always consistent Tomas Berdych are also in this quarter of the draw. With two wins over Nadal in 2015, Fognini must be feeling pretty confident. Too bad he's such a head case or he might actually have a shot at going deep here this year. Of course now that I write that he will almost certainly prove me wrong and advance to the semi-finals! Nishikori defended his Barcelona clay court title earlier this year but has never done much at Roland Garros where he has yet to advance past the fourth round. Two unseeded players who have a realistic shot of making the quarter-finals are Federico Delbonis and Juan Monaco who can both play real well on this surface. The two play one another in the first round which has 5 sets written all over it. Berdych warrants the best shot of advancing to the semi-finals here but don't expect much more from him. His last four losses this season have come to Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray - aka the "Big Four."

Pick: Berdych

Fourth Quarter

For Roger Federer fans, the excitement of having Djokovic, Murray and Nadal in the other half of the draw must seem almost too good to be true. Roger himself must be pretty pumped-up at the prospect of advancing to the finals here for the first time since 2011. Unfortunately I feel like this draw IS too good to be true especially when I notice that Fed could play Gael Monfils in the fourth round. Neither Federer nor Monfils should be stopped prior to that stage - although with Monfils I suppose you never know. Still, the Frenchman has Roger's number of late in winning three of their last five matches including the past two in-a-row on clay. Stan Wawrinka is also in this quarter as the 8th seed but Stan has been a mess since February this year and I just don't see him putting it together at the moment. 

Pick: Monfils

In two weeks time I'm expecting a Djokovic vs. Insert unpredictable (perhaps shocking) opponent in the finals. Novak will join Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer as current players who have won all four Slams and the discussion will rev-up about whether or not the Serb can catch the two more accomplished players in the race for the all-time Grand Slam count.

Western and Southern Open ATP Preview

By Mike McIntyre

A few days removed from a third round loss at the Rogers Cup should help world Number One Novak Djokovic work on a few things in practice and refocus on his U.S. Open preparations. Djokovic receives a first round  bye once again and then opens against the winner between Gilles Simon and Bernard Tomic. The month off after Wimbledon is tough on all players and those in Toronto witnessed that first hand with the high number of upsets that happened there. Expect the top guys to shake off the rust and have a deeper run here in Cincinnati as they get closer to the final Grand Slam of the year.

In the top quarter Djokovic has a possible third round meeting with solid veteran Tommy Robredo who knocked-off Jack Sock in the opening round 7-6(5), 6-3. A good win for Tommy considering that Sock was ripping his forehand pretty well last week in Canada and has been enjoying success in both singles and doubles this summer.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is a likely quarter-final opponent for Djokovic and would give him a chance to redeem himself from the 6-2, 6-2 beating that the Frenchman put on him at the Rogers Cup. Tsonga must first overcome the crafty Mikhail Youzhny in the opening round who has won three of the last four matches between the two. Fatigue may be a factor for Tsonga, although if he plays like he did last week in Toronto and carries that momentum forward he should be just fine. Can he beat Djokovic in back-to-back tournaments, I don't think so. Should Djokovic win the title in Cincinnati he will become the only player in the history of the ATP World Tour to have won all nine Masters 1000 titles in his career.

In the second quarter of the draw, Stan Wawrinka is the 3rd seed and will face Benjamin Becker who beat Ivo Karlovic 7-6(5), 6-4 in his first match of the tourney. "Stan the Man" could face Marin Cilic in the third round before a likely encounter with recent Masters 1000 semi-finalist Grigor Dimitrov who had a successful week in Toronto. Dimitrov made the second Masters semi-final of this career this past week and is one of only two players on Tour this year who have won titles on all three surfaces (along with Djokovic).

In the third quarter, Milos Raonic is the 5th seed and despite his loss to Feliciano Lopez at his home tournament last week, the Canadian is looking more and more like a bonafide member of the top-ten. After his bye, Raonic will face the winner between Dominic Thiem who represents the future of the ATP World Tour and Robby Ginepri who I think we can all agree represents the past. The enigmatic Ernests Gulbis could face Milos in round three and a potential quarter-final battle with 4th seed Tomas Berdych also looms. Berdych was practicing hard last week in Toronto with Andy Murray. We'll see if any of that work pays off as he looks to take his hardcourt season up a notch. Berdych is in a slump that has seen him win no more than two matches in-a-row since the French Open in May.

In the final quarter of the draw, Roger Federer is the second seed and is coming off a strong result in Toronto where he lost the final to an in-form Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Federer will see either 35 year old Radek Stepanek or 24 year old Vasek Pospisil in the second round. He could get Gael Monfils in the third round which would be fun to watch - heck Monfils against just about anyone is a fun match to watch. Andy Murray could see Fed in the quarter-finals which would give fans and tournament organizers plenty to cheer about. I feel that Murray is due for a breakthrough performance and Cincinnati could be the place this finally happens. I know he had to overcome back surgery in the off-season but the fact that the Scot has not been in a final all year on the ATP Tour is quite shocking. Murray has won this event twice before, in 2008 and 2011. He's no doubt hoping that this three year in-between titles trend continues.

Ultimately I am going with Djokovic, Dimitrov, Raonic and Murray to make it through their respective quarters and I'll take Murray over Djokovic in the finals. This will be the last apperance of most of the top players on Tour before the U.S. Open begins later this month. One interesting stat to note is that in the 44 year history of the Western & Southern Open, the winner has gone on to win the final Grand Slam of the year in Flushing Meadows 9 times. Most recently Rafael Nadal proved that winning Cincinnati is excellent preparation for the Open, we'll see if someone else can do the same in 2014.

Tuesday at the Rogers Cup in Pictures

By Mike McIntyre

There was more rain on day two of the Rogers Cup in Toronto but things eventually cleared up and by the afternoon everything was back on schedule. Roger Federer made his hardcourt summer debut and three Canadians all made an exit from the tournament leaving Milos Raonic as the only Canuck remaining in the draw. Here are some of my favourite shots from around the grounds today. Enjoy!

Frank Dancevic practices in the morning despite the rain shower.

Philipp Kohlschreiber's shirt might have jinxed the German as he was defeated 6-3, 7-6(3) by Tommy Robredo.

The drying machines proved their worth today and made several appearances throughout the morning as the rain continued to fall.

There's a first for everything. Dancevic looks incredulous as he is asked to sign a fans purse.

An auction item of the last Toronto Maple Leafs team to win the Stanley Cup. Hopefully we don't have to wait that long for a Canadian to win the Rogers Cup!

Despite the wet courts, "La Monf" flashes a grin during morning practice.

 

World Number One Novak Djokovic grins as he prepares to return a shot to coach Marian Vajda. Djokovic makes his singles debut Wednesday in Toronto.

Warning: being the world number one comes with high pressure. At least Novak has an emergency exit!

 

Here we can see reality sinking in for 612th ranked Brayden Schnur of Canada who fell 6-3, 6-3 in the opening round to Andreas Seppi who is ranked 561 spots higher than him on the ATP World Tour.

 Someone finally got a smile out of the normally very professional Milos Raonic. Had to be the Djoker!

Wildcard Jack Sock celebrates his 6-1, 6-3 win over Jurgen Melzer.

Dancevic faltered today in a match he should have found a way to win. He goes down 5-7, 6-0, 6-3 to Donald Young.

To say Young was happy with the result was an understatement.

Likely the scariest serve on the tour. "Dr." Ivo Karlovic

Monfils battled back from a 1-5 deficit in the second set to beat Radek Stepanek 6-3, 7-5.

Tough day for Vasek Pospisil who admitted he has simply, "been on the road a lot of weeks." He loses the rematch with Richard Gasquet 7-5, 7-5.

 

And then there was Federer. Playing in his first match since an epic final at Wimbledon he looked ready to rock. Broken in his first service game of the night, Federer would not have any more hiccups in a 6-2, 6-0 victory against Peter Polansky.

The view from the very top of the Rexall Centre tonight for the Federer/Polansky match.

Former world Number One and six time Grand Slam champion Stefan Edberg was inducted into the Rogers Cup Hall of Fame this evening.

Federer doing some post-match press to end his night.

 

Stan Wawrinka saved a match point against close friend Benoit Paire and prevailed 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(3) to end another fantastic day of tennis in Toronto.

Check back with us often here at ProTennisFan as we continue to provide a glimpse at all the action at the Rogers Cup. Follow us on Twitter as well for regular updates and commentary. 

Monday at the Rogers Cup in Pictures

By Mike McIntyre

Canada's biggest tennis tournament got underway in Toronto on Monday as round one of the Rogers Cup began. Here are a few shots from around the grounds of the Rexall Centre as taken by yours truly.

Canadian doubles legend Daniel Nestor celebrating what he called, "championship point at Wimby" against partner Nenad Zimonjic.

Gael Monfils of France was all smiles as he practiced with American Jack Sock. The jury is still out on the goatee though.

Denis Istomin won for "coolest shades" of the day, but little else as he went down in three sets to Marin Cilic in the first match of the day on Centre Court.

Andy Murray practicing under the watchful eye of coach Amelie Mauresmo.

Milos Raonic receiving his "welcome to the big boys club" award, aka top ten award, from ATP World Tour President Chris Kermode.

You know you're pro when you have your name on your tennis bag as Tommy Robredo does here.

No that's not security standing behind world number 8 Grigor Dimitrov, but his coach Roger Rasheed.

Lleyton Hewitt's struggles at the Rogers Cup continued today as he was defeated 6-1, 6-2 by Julien Benneteau to drop his career record at the event to 9-10.

The biggest grin on the ATP World Tour goes to Vasek Pospisil without a doubt. As soon as the first smile broke, all the photographers in the room started snapping pictures in a collective frenzy.

It's not every day that you get to ask questions to your childhood idol. Here is Stefan Edberg, six time Grand Slam champion and current coach to Roger Federer. He is being inducted Tuesday night into the Rogers Cup Hall of Fame.

 

Frenchman Julie Benneteau fields questions from but a single reporter following his victory over Lleyton Hewitt.

Only Roger Federer could get away with a behind the back volley!

Practice with coach Edberg nearby

I can't think of better suited partnership than Federer and Edberg. Both class acts through and through.

France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga kicks-off the night session on Centre Court.

Ivan Dodig proved to be a handful for John Isner while the American's towel was clearly a mouthful. Dodig prevailed in three sets.

Grand Slam champions Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka head out at 10pm to start their doubles match together. A victory sends them up against Canadian Daniel Nestor and his partner Nenad Zimonjic next.

 

Photo cred on the above picture only: David Li

Celebrating his first Rogers Cup victory in four years, Canada's Peter Polansky autographs the camera.

Check back with us regularly at ProTennisFan.com as we catch the action each day this week at the Rogers Cup in Toronto. Be sure to follow us on Twitter as well for regular updates.

Around The Corner: Atlanta, Gstaad and Umag

By Mike McIntyre

BB&T Atlanta Open

The Emirates Airlines U.S. Open Series officially gets underway with the level 250 event in Atlanta. While the major players will make their first hardcourt swing appearances in two weeks time at the Rogers Cup in Toronto, some smaller (and taller) fish will start accumulating points a bit earlier.

When I say taller I am definitely talking about John Isner who heads the field in Atlanta as the number one seed. Isner has become the hardest working player on the ATP Tour in recent summers and this year should be no exception. He has plenty of points to defend which must compel him to play such a heavy schedule, but it certainly seems to leave him weakened by the time the U.S. Open arrives at the end of August. At the age of 29 Isner is no kid anymore and if he truly wants to have his major moment he is going to have to ease up on the hours he spends out in the summer heat. Isner's success in 2014 has been limited to the early months of the season where he won his first event in Auckland and then reached the semi's at Indian Wells where he fell to Djokovic in three sets. He's the defending champ here in Atlanta and anything less than a repeat victory at this event will be seen as a disappointment.

Isner has a first round bye and then will face the winner between wildcard Robby Ginepri -who is still trying to salvage something of a once promising career - and Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine. Gael  Monfils of France is the number three seed and is also in the top-half of the draw. Monfils could win this thing or self-destruct in a dizzying array of cartwheels and Boris Becker inspired dives...you just never know with him.

Wimbledon doubles champs Jack Sock and Vasek Pospisil are reunited together again since their big triumph. They are also both playing singles of course and Pospisil is the fourth seed and in the bottom-half of the draw. With his back seemingly no longer troubling him, the Canadian will look to gain some momentum as the Roger's Cup approaches where he has semi-final points to defend. Lots of pressure on the youngster who is fresh off a loss to Bernie Tomic in Bogota this past week.

Yen-Hsun Lu of Tapei is the seventh seed and in the bottom half as well. He is coming off a Challenger level tournament victory in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan. For him it will be a battle between his rising confidence and impending jetlag. Kevin Anderson, the second seed, is also one to watch. He lost the final a year ago to Isner and played very well last summer on the smaller American hardcourt events.

Credit Agricole Suisse Open Gstaad

For those looking to cling to red clay for a little bit longer we have just the event for you in Switzerland. No Roger Federer this year as he does not need the extra ranking points nor is he testing out a new racquet. Federer was shocked in his opening match a year ago against Daniel Brands in a forgettable 65 minute match.

Mikhail Youzhny is the number one seed and defending champion in Gstaad. He is quite capable on clay as he is on all other surfaces. He's got some decent dirt-ballers such as Juan Monaco, Thomasz Bellucci and Federico Delbonis to content with in the top half of the draw.

In the bottom half the ATP World Tour welcomes back the self-proclaimed innocent Viktor Troicki who hopefully has learned his lesson about refusing to provide a blood sample when asked. He was fortunate enough to have his 18 month suspension reduced to 12 and to receive a wildcard for this event. He opens against sixth seeded Dominic Thiem from Austria.

Fernando Verdaso will try to get his season back on track as the fourth seed here in Gstaad. Other than winning a small tournament on green clay in Houston back in April, there has been little worth reporting from the thirty year old Spaniard so far in 2014.

Marcel Granollers is the second seed in the event and won this tournament in 2011.

Take the results from this tournament with a grain of salt. Clay court events are on their way out this year and a win here does not by any means translate to success at the final Grand Slam of the year in New York. These are players who are trying to pad their stats or bank accounts but clearly care little for what they may be able to accomplish at a major.

Vegeta Croatia Open Umag

Ditto for Umag.

Number one seed Fabio Fognini will try to stick around a little longer than he did last week in Hamburg where he was defeated 6-4, 6-0 by the 150th ranked player in the world - Filip Krajinovic. A dismal effort from the defending champion to say the least. Fognini was a finalist here in Umag in 2013 and I would expect somewhat of a stronger effort this week as he tries to hold on to his current ranking of 15th in the world.

17 year old Alexander Zverev has received a special entry into the tournament due to his phenomenal effort last week in Hamburg where he reached the semi-finals before falling to David Ferrer. This kid has experienced the most prolific start to his career by a teenager since one Rafael Nadal did about ten years ago. He jumped 124 spots in the rankings up to his current of 161st in the ATP. Zverev started 2014 ranked in the 800s and won the Australian Open junior event. Looks like he's ready for the big leagues now.

In the bottom half of the draw the fans will no-doubt be pulling for Marin Cilic who won here in 2012. Tommy Robredo is the second seed and defending champion from a year ago. Every time I write anything negative about Robredo he goes on a serious run and manages to rediscover his top-twenty ranking and form. I'm done predicting anything for this guy, he is officially my kryptonite!

We're back in business here at ProTennisFan after some website issues earlier this year. Please check back with us during the summer swing for in-depth analysis of the ATP World Tour. You can also follow us on Twitter if you're so inclined.

Men's Fourth Round French Open Preview

By Mike Mcintyre

Half-way to the finish line and all of the main threats in the men's draw at Roland Garros appear poised to live up to their billing in Paris.

Top ranked Rafa Nadal survived his first five-set French Open match against John Isner and a third set hiccup against Pablo Andular in round two to advance with ease to the fourth round with a 6-1, 6-3. 6-0 route of Antonio Veic. Next up is unseeded veteran Ivan Ljubicic who upset Fernando Verdasco in straight sets on Saturday. While Ljubicic is a wily veteran, he stands no chance against the defending champion and will go down in three in their meeting I'm certain. While Ljubicic has defeated the Spaniard twice before, both of those meetings came on hard courts. Nadal will own him on clay to advance to the quarter-finals.

The Gilles Simon vs. Robin Soderling fourth round match should be a good baseline battle between one of three remaining French hopes and the two-time returning finalist from Sweden. Soderling leads their head-to-head 4-2 but the pair have never met on clay before. Expect a long match with Soderling likely prevailing to set-up a fantastic quarter-finals match against Nadal. Not a player Rafa is looking forward to facing.

After the finals in Australia, Andy Murray is still waiting for his "I'm Back" moment of 2011. Following the first Slam of the year he tanked in the first round of three consecutive tournaments. Back on track after a semi-final appearance in Rome where he had the chance to serve for the match against unbeaten Novak Djokovic, Murray can hold is own on clay and if his ankle holds up he should be able to dispatch Serb Viktor Troicki. Troicki is at an all-time high of 15th in the ATP World Tour rankings but I don't think he'll be able to pull-off the win against an experienced player like Murray. Murray leads 3-0 in their previous encounters although they have never met on clay and their last match was almost two years ago. Murray's health will dictate the outcome here.

 Moving along we have a surprise quarter of Alejandro Falla, ranked 127th in the world, against veteran dirt-baller Juan Ignacio Chela who has maintained a top-forty ranking even at the age of 31. At one apiece in their career against one another, this match could go either way. Ultimately unless you are from Colombia or Argentina you probably don't care one way or the other. The victor will no-doubt be taken care of by the winner of the Troicki-Murray match.

In the bottom half speedster David Ferrer will meet up with the acrobatic and unpredictable Gael Monfils of France. Should be a fantastic match that has five sets written all over it. Monfils has made the semi-finals here before while Ferrer is certainly capable himself and both have the potential to give their likely next opponent, Roger Federer, a tough go. With the year he's been having I give Ferrer the slight edge.

Federer meanwhile will feast upon his fellow countryman Stan Wawrinka in their fourth round encounter. Roger holds an intimidating 8-1 record against his former gold medal-winning doubles partner from the Beijing Olympics. Wawrinka came back from two-sets down to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to win a tough third round match and even if he was well rested I doubt he'd be able to topple Federer here at a Slam.

In another surprising fourth round match, Fabio Fognini will face Albert Montanes. While Fognini is a bit of a journeyman, Montanes is a legitimate clay court threat. Montanes is unseeded but reached a career-high ranking of 22 in the world last summer. He hasn't been lighting it up this year but won two clay court tournaments in 2010. He has played Fognini four times in his career and won the three most recent matches, all on clay.

The winner above faces the unenviable task of facing the winner between Novak Djokovic and...well, does it really matter? With a 40-0 record in 2011, Djokovic should be able to deal with Richard Gasquet in their match. Fresh off a four set send-off of Juan Martin Del Potro, Djokovic fears no one. While Gasquet took out Federer recently in Rome and definitely has a talent level that could trouble any player on tour, Djokovic is almost untouchable at the moment. It would take a Herculean effort from a Roger Federer or Rafa Nadal to have a chance at ending the Djoker's impressive streak right now.

Enjoy the fourth round and stay tuned for more analysis and updates from us here at ProTennisFan. Feel free to follow us on Twitter as well throughout the event and beyond.

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.