McIntyre Tennis

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.

Rogers Cup ATP Preview

By Mike McIntyre

Once an optional blip on the screen for pro tennis players, the Rogers Cup has become perhaps the most important event outside of the four Grand Slams on the ATP World Tour. While the Emirates U.S. Open Series has already seen events in Atlanta and Washington, it is the start of the Rogers Cup that really signifies the start of the summer hardcourt swing. This is where the favourites for the upcoming U.S. Open begin to show their stuff and help build momentum towards the crowning of what is arguably the hardest Slam to win.

In Toronto this year the favourite will no-doubt be world number one Novak Djokovic. Fresh off his second career Wimbledon title, Djokovic has worked hard to re-establish himself as the premiere player on the Tour. His victory at the All-England Club sent him past Rafael Nadal in the rankings and has likely given him the confidence to continue that impressive level of play throughout the summer. The Serb has already won the event in Canada three times which is the most of any players participating in this year's draw.  (2007, 2011, 2012). For Nadal, a right wrist injury has unfortunately sidelined him for the Rogers Cup where he was to be the defending champion. Hopefully the next three weeks of rest will allow his body time to recover in time for Flushing Meadows in New York.

Here is our look at the draw for this years Rogers Cup:

Djokovic has already been on-site for several days in Toronto and participated in the draw ceremony on Friday at the Ontario Legislature. On Saturday the world number one captured the attention of teenage music fans when he hit a few balls with Niall Horan of One Direction fame.

Djokovic gets a first round bye along with the other top seven seeds at the Rogers Cup. His first match will be against the winner between Gael Monfils and Radek Stepanek. That match between "le Monf" and "the worm" will undoubtedly be one of the more entertaining pairings on deck in the opening round.The Djoker could also see Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the third round which would make for yet another challenging match.

One unexpected curve-ball in Djokovic's quarter of the draw is the presence of Andy Murray who has won the Rogers Cup twice himself. Murray has yet to reach the finals of any ATP event so far in 2014 and has seen his ranking slip to 10th in the world. He finds himself seeded 8th here in Toronto but could face Djokovic in a blockbuster quarter-final match-up. While I do see Djokovic moving through his quarter, there will be a stern test in every match for him to overcome.

In the second quarter of the draw we find Stan Wawrinka as the 3rd seed. Wawrinka now shares the spotlight among Swiss tennis players and is no longer viewed as Roger Federer's understudy. In a move that will surely generate some buzz in the doubles draw in Toronto, Wawrinka will be partnering Djokovic to help the two get a little extra hardcourt practice. Wawrinka will face either Alejandro Falla or a qualifier in the second round when he begins play. Beyond that, Stan's first real test could be in the quarter-finals against the up and coming Grigor Dmitrov who is seeded 7th.

In the third quarter, Tomas Berdych will try to improve upon his recent result at the Citi Open in Washington where as the number one seed he fell in his third round match to resurgent young Canadian Vasek Pospisil. Berdych is the 4th seed in Toronto and will open against either Yen-Hsun Lu or Marcel Granollers. He should be able to sail into the quarter-finals where he could very likely face another Canadian - Milos Raonic.

The "Maple Leaf Missile" has stepped up his game to another level this year and has proven that he belongs in the top ten. A quarter-final result at the French Open was an unexpected surprise for the hard-serving Canuck whose game is more suited to faster surfaces. He then followed that up by reaching the semi-finals of Wimbledon where he was eventually defeated by Federer. Raonic won the Citi Open in Washington on Sunday against his compatriot Pospisil in what was the first all-Canadian final of the Open Era of tennis on the ATP World Tour. In short, Canadian tennis fans have plenty to be excited about this week as the world of tennis turns its focus to their major tournament.

In the last quarter of the Rogers Cup draw, Federer is in the number two position and will face either Jerzy Janowicz or Canadian wildcard Peter Polansky in his opening match. Federer has a very agreable section of the draw to work his way into and his subsequent opponents could be Marin Cilic in round three, David Ferrer or John Isner in the quarters and then either Berdych or Raonic in the semis. Federer has to be happy with this draw and should likely find himself playing deep into the tournament.

Other players of note in the draw are the 6'11'' Ivo Karlovic who is something to behold if you are attending the event live. He opens against Bernard Tomic in the top-half of the draw and fans will have the opportunity to get up close on the Granstand Monday afternoon to see his incredible serve in action.

Australian teenage sensation Nick Kyrgios received a wildcard from Tennis Canada and faces Santiago Giraldo of Columbia in the opening round. This kid you'll remember from defeating Nadal in the fourth round of Wimbledon a few weeks ago before falling to Raonic in the quarters. This will be a good chance to see what all the hype is about and he should face Andy Murray in the second round.

Veteran Lleyton Hewitt is making his tenth appearance at the Canadian Masters 1000 event, but his first in Toronto since 2006. At 33 years old, this could very well be Hewitt's last appearance here in Toronto and a great chance for fans to see this former Grand Slam champion in action for a final time.

In terms of Canadian content, there is Milos of course who the fans will be counting on to contend for the title. He is defending finalist points this year and hopefully is not too tired from his run in Washington.

Posipisil also had enormous success last year in Montreal where he lost fo Raonic in the semi-finals. He's played a lot of tennis over the last few days with his quarter-final match in Washington being finished the same day as his three set semi-final victory against Richard Gasquet. Pospisil will be quite familiar with Gasquet by the end of the Rogers Cup as the two are slated to face one another in the opening round of both singles and doubles play. Vasek is slated to re-join doubles partner Jack Sock and see if they can continue their impressive partnership that has yielded a 10-0 record and two titles this summer including at Wimbledon.

Veteran Frank Dancevic recently cracked the top hundred in the ATP rankings for the first time in years and opens against American Donald Young. Dancevic has fallen back to 123rd in the world over the last couple of weeks however and we will see if he is fit enough to show glimpses of his 2007 form that saw him reach that quarter-finals in Montreal.

Finally there is the previously mentioned Polansky who plays Janowicz in an opening round match that is a big-ask for the 129th ranked Canadian. He has proven resilient playing in front of a home crowd however and has twice advanced past the first round at the Rogers Cup.

Keep checking back with us regularly as we will be attending the event live all week long and providing match updates and plenty of photos as well. You can check us out on Twitter as well for timely updates.

U.S. Open Day 2 Recap

By Mike McIntyre

The heat stole the spotlight for a second consecutive day in New York as the schedule at the U.S. Open went late into the night thanks to several long matches.

Acting as an equalizer between players, the humidity in particular narrowed the gap between the lesser known talents and their normally more dangerous counter parts. 

Here are some of the more interesting men's matches from day two at the Open.

Novak Djokovic came ever so close to being a first round casualty against fellow Serb Victor Troicki. Down two sets to one and a break in the fourth set it appeared as though Djokovic's fragile physique and mental fortitude would once again do him in. Brad Gilbert speculated that a potential Djokovic retirement would give him a career Slam in that department, as he has previously been forced to retire from play at the other three majors.

Instead Djokovic showed some heart as he broke back and then took the fourth and fifth sets as Troicki ran out of gas and allowed nerves to take over. Djokovic prevailed 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3.

A strange statistic is that Djokovic improved to 6-0 in Grand Slams when trailing two sets to one, and to 12-5 in matches that went to a fifth set. Those numbers go against the prevailing opinion of the world number three player when it comes to long matches. Maybe we should give him a bit more credit?

One seeded player who went five sets but could not prevent the upset was Marcos Baghdatis. The 2006 Aussie Open finalist has been on a good role this summer, making the finals in Washington D.C. and the semi-finals of the Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati.

Not known for his physical fitness, Baghdatis perhaps became a victim of playing too much tennis over the last month. He even played the New Haven event the week before the U.S. Open which I never really saw the need for.

It was 32 year old veteran Frenchman Arnaud Clement. himself an Aussie Open finalist from 2001, who defeated Baghdatis by a score of 6-3, 2-6, 1-6, 6-4, 7-5.

"What can I say? I was really heavy on court," Baghdatis said after the match. "I wasn't feeling very fit. It's not a matter of fit but very heavy. Couldn't play aggressive. I was really defensive today, and Arnaud played a very good first set. I mean, the second set he was giving a lot of points away and I took them, but I was really heavy on court. I was really defensive. I think I didn't play very good tennis, and he won the match."

A nice result today was the routine win for struggling American veteran James Blake who got by Kristof Vliegen 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. Blake has had a terrible time trying to get his game back on track this summer with a 3-8 record coming into the match since returning to the tour in June. Now ranked 108th in the world it will be tough for Blake to rediscover his previous form at the age of 30, but maybe he can conjure up a good run on home soil.

After the match Blake spoke of enjoying these types of victories at this stage of his career:

"Yeah, it's a great feeling. Any time you win a match, harken back to the days when my biggest goal and biggest dream was to win a round at the US Open. Somewhere along the way to some people it started to get taken for granted. It's still exciting for me to win a match here, to have fans that are excited to see me play and get to play again in front of some great fans. I'm happy to get through."

In the last men's match of the day, Nadal overcame a very tough Teymuraz Gabashvili 7-6(4), 7-6(4), 6-3. Nadal was pushed by the Russian in the first two sets but showed some great tennis in the third set to avoid prolonging the match any further. 

Other results worth noting include Mardy Fish taking down Jan Hajek in five sets. Fish has been on fire all summer long but required the distance to dispatch of Hajek. He won by an interesting score line of 6-0, 3-6, 4-6, 6-0, 6-1. 

David Nalbandian also needed five sets to beat Rik De Voest and I wonder if he, like Baghdatis, has stretched himself too thin with so much match play this summer.

Tenth seeded David Ferrer, a semi-finalist in New York in 2007, beat up-and-coming Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-2, 6-2, 6-3.

I also must give a shout-out to fellow Canadian Peter Polansky who won his first ever Grand Slam match by disposing of clay-court guru Juan Monaco, 6-2, 7-6(5), 6-3. Polansky has had some tough five-set losses in Grand Slam play so it's nice to see him finally pull one out.

Australian Open - Men's Qualifying Draw

By Mike McIntyre

The 2010 Australian Open officially begins on Monday but important matches have already begun in the qualifying draw.

The 128-player draw will work its way down to a fortunate group of 16 players who will advance to the main draw of the tournament.

Seeded first in the qualifying draw is Xavier Malisse of Belgium who advanced to the second round of the qualies with a 6-2, 7-6(5) win against Alex Kuznetsov of the United States. Malisse is a talented but under-achieving veteran who reached a career-high of 19 in the world in 2002, the same year he reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon. Currently ranked 92nd, Malisse does not necessarily have to win all of his qualifying matches to advance into the tournament. Should any player who is entered in the main draw withdraw from their opening match ahead of time, Malisse would become the first lucky-loser to fill-in due to his ranking.

Other names of interest in the qualifying draw include former American phenom Donald Young who won his first match 7-5, 6-0 against Marc Lopez of Spain. At only twenty years of age, the possibility of Young reaching his enormous potential still exists, although it seems his game is at a stand-still at the moment ranked 194th in the world.

Former NCAA champion Somdev Devvarman holds the 27th seed amongst qualifiers and won his first match easily 6-2, 6-1 against local Australian James Duckworth. Going to school at the University of Virginia, Devvarman won the NCAA title in back-to-back years in 2007 and 2008. He defeated current top-fifty ATP played John Isner in the 2007 final so the kid certainly has skill. Perhaps this is the year he finally breaks out on tour. 

Canadian youngster Peter Polansky fell in the opening round 1-6, 2-6 to Marsel Ilhan of Turkey. The 21 year old is my home country's best hope for a top-fifty player in the future and is currently ranked 186th in the world. A tough break for Polansky, as he made the main draw in Australia a year ago and even pushed Igor Andreev to a fifth set in the first round before falling. Polanksy actually qualified for three Grand Slam tournaments in 2009, losing in the first round of each in five sets.

The main draw will be announced this Friday.