MONTREAL Rogers Cup 2005

[Teresa]

Few walkovers in tennis
16 of top 20 here. Swede Johansson draws a big server

PAT HICKEY
The Gazette


August 6, 2005

Clay-court whiz Rafael Nadal of Spain is the top seed at the Rogers Cup in Montreal with the absence of world No. 1 Roger Federer.


When you get the best tennis players in the world in one spot, it's difficult to find an easy match, even in the first round.

Just ask Thomas Johansson of Sweden, who drew Ivo Karlovic of Croatia in the opening round of the $2.45-million (U.S.) Rogers Cup, which begins today with qualifying action at the Jarry Tennis Centre.

"You look through the draw and you see a lot of good matchups in the first round," Johansson said after witnessing the official draw yesterday afternoon. Johansson, who won this tournament in 1999, noted Karlovic is a dangerous opponent, even though he is the lowest-ranked player among those earning a direct entry into the 64-player draw at No. 75.

"You have to go out there knowing that you have to stay in the points as long as you can, because he has the best serve in tennis today," said Johansson.

That's saying something when you consider that the entry list includes Andy Roddick, who is credited with the fastest serve on the ATP Tour, and Montreal-born boomer Greg Rusedski, who was the top gun before Roddick. Johansson said Karlovic's height - he's the tallest player on the tour at 6-foot-10 - provides him with an excellent angle and "he can hit all the corners."

There's no shortage of intriguing first-round matches, starting with an all-Mallorcan battle between Rafael Nadal and Carlos Moya. With top-ranked Roger Federer nursing a knee injury, Nadal is top seed, while Moya is a former No. 1 player who has been struggling this year.

Other interesting first-round matchups include seventh-seeded Guillermo Coria of Argentina against former French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain; ninth-seeded David Nalbandian against fellow Argentine Juan Ignacio Chela; and ageless Andre Agassi against Spaniard Alberto Martin.

The tournament has attracted seven of the top 10 players in the current ATP Tour rankings and 16 of the top 20. The absentees from the top 10 are Federer, No. 4 Marat Safin and No. 10 Guillermo Canas. Safin is nursing a knee injury, while Canas has voluntarily withdrawn from competition after failing a drug test. He is appealing the test results.

Four Canadians received wild-card entries into the main draw and they all face tough tests.

Fred Niemeyer of Deauville, who is still recovering from a sprained ankle suffered last month at a challenger event in California, will face fifth-seeded Nikolai Davydenko. Frank Dancevic of Niagara Falls, the top-ranked Canadian at No. 180, drew stylish Belgian Xavier Malisse, while Rob Steckley of Ontario plays Kenneth Carlsen of Denmark.

Philip Bester, the 16-year-old Canadian junior champion from Vancouver, was supposed to compete in the qualifying event, but he was awarded a spot in the main draw after veteran Daniel Nestor declined a wild-card. He'll play Brazilian Ricardo Mello and the one advantage he'll have is that Mello isn't a big hitter.

That could be a factor on courts which Johansson described as "quick." The Swede also said the Penn ATP ball being used here will speed up play.

Nestor is still recovering from a wrist injury and decided he would concentrate on doubles.

Three more Canadians are competing in the qualifying event, which begins today at

10 a.m. The Canadians are Peter Polansky of Toronto; Eric Chvojka of Kirkland and Pierre Ludovic-Duclos, a Quebecer who trains at Gustavo Kuerten's tennis academy in Brazil.

Play in the main draw begins Monday at 11 a.m.

[SAFINNO1]

Blimey there are some interesting matches in the first round to look forward, mainly Nadal and Moya.
To view the full draw
www.atptennis.com/en/common/TrackIt.asp?file=/posting/2005/421/MDS.pdf

One thing i have to say alot of the big names well get knocked out early. I dont think i have ever seen a draw like this, the amount of big name matches is amazing. Whoever wins this tournament will truly deserve it.

Thanks forthe article Teresa.

[Teresa]

Hey Ily

THANK YOU for the link to the draw, I was going to come back and do it and saw that you had already
Man oh man you are right back on the job eh? Means I can relax a little ;D you going post the order of play for Monday? ;D (when it comes out)

There are some really good first round matches as you said, I am looking forward to Monday.

I am sorry that Nadal and Moya have to play each other in the first round, poor Moya, what a shitty draw for him.

Coria vs JFC now that should be a good one too!!
Nalbandian vs Chela

Man these top seeds will have to fight early to say in the tournament.


I always find that Andre gets great draws.

[tall_one]

teresa said:

Four Canadians received wild-card entries into the main draw and they all face tough tests.

Fred Niemeyer of Deauville, who is still recovering from a sprained ankle suffered last month at a challenger event in California, will face fifth-seeded Nikolai Davydenko. Frank Dancevic of Niagara Falls, the top-ranked Canadian at No. 180, drew stylish Belgian Xavier Malisse, while Rob Steckley of Ontario plays Kenneth Carlsen of Denmark.

Philip Bester, the 16-year-old Canadian junior champion from Vancouver, was supposed to compete in the qualifying event, but he was awarded a spot in the main draw after veteran Daniel Nestor declined a wild-card. He'll play Brazilian Ricardo Mello and the one advantage he'll have is that Mello isn't a big hitter.

what a waste of wildcards! I'd be suprise if they won 1 set between the 4 of them

Some of the other match-ups look good though, Moya-Nadal, ToJo-Karlovic & Coria-JCF

[MaRije]

HeEy, Thank you Safinno1..!

Yes, You´re right there are interesting matches in
the first round. Unfortunately, I think they won´t come
on Tv Here..


XxX.. KisSs to you, MaRat!
HopE to See you soon!

[SAFINNO1]

Yep teresa i'll help you as much as i can but just keep a look out as the schedule may be released late in the U.K time difference.

I just dont get the Draw, also Mirnyi V Gonzalez (Powerful serve v Powerful shots)
Nicolas Massu v Nicolas Kiefer (Both good players)
Ljubicic and Dent (Massive servers)
Andreev V NovaK (Players possibly of equal ability)
Schrichapan v Grosjean (never know what to expect from these two)
Youzhny v Gasquet (Players who can both play at a high standard)
Tim Henman v Hrbaty (Players who can beat each other on any day of the week)
and the fact we may have an Ancic and Hewitt 2nd round.
Not to mention all of the above. I may be sounding negative but i truly cannot wait to watch these matches.
I really do agree with nicki Useless players should not get a WC, they are wasted on them. They should give it upcoming talent e.g Monfils or Murray etc.

[Teresa]

Men's Preview: Week of August 8 (Exclusive)
Men's Look Forward: Canadian Open

At last, a little sanity comes back to the rankings. This is the week get back up to eight Masters events. It's still one short of normal, but it's something we've seen before.

And speaking of "one short," that's what we're missing: The world's #1. Roger Federer, as previously announced, is not playing so he can rest his feet. It's an interesting decision; it gives him an extra week to rest and recover, but it also means that he has to come back in heat of Cincinnati rather than the (at least slightly) more mild conditions in Montreal.

Only three other members of last week's Top Twenty are missing, two of them definitely injured: 2000 champion Marat Safin is still resting his knee, and Joachim Johansson is out for the year after shoulder surgery. The other missing player is 2002 champion Guillermo Canas, who is still in drug testing limbo. (There seems to be a jinx on players who won this event in even years: 2004 champion Federer, 2002 champion Canas, and 2000 winner Safin are not playing, 1998 winner Rafter and 1996 winner Ferreira are retired; leaving 1994 titleist Andre Agassi as the only even-year champion in the draw, and he's gimpy. Whereas 2003 winner Andy Roddick, 2001 victor Andrei Pavel, and 1999 winner Thomas Johansson are all in the field).

Federer's absence lets Rafael Nadal take the top seed -- the first time he's had that seeding at a required event. Rather ironic that it comes away from clay -- hut of course it gives him the chance to show that he can win on something other than dirt. Lleyton Hewitt, who doesn't have anything to prove on hardcourts but who hasn't won a required event in years, is #2. Andy Roddick, seeded #3, is the most recent champion in the draw. Andre Agassi, after skipping last week, is scheduled to play as the #4 seed. Nikolay Davydenko, who has had all sorts of ailments this summer, is #5. Gaston Gaudio, who stayed on clay until this week and then claimed to be unfit to play, is #6 seed and obviously comes in with little hardcourt preparation. #7 seed Guillermo Coria has had event less, been in Sopot all week. #8 seed Mariano Puerta is also just in from Sopot, and his hardcourt results aren't likely to strike fear into many opponents. #9 seed David Nalbandian, on the other hand, is a fine all-surface player. #10 Tim Henman is a good hardcourt performer, but he's having a very disappointing year and lost much too soon in Washington. #11 Tommy Robredo is slowly improving his results on all surfaces, but he has yet to post a really spectacular hardcourt result. #12 Thomas Johansson is of course a former champion. #13 Ivan Ljubicic started the year well and faded. So has #14 Radek Stepanek. #15 Richard Gasquet has done nothing but improve from month to month -- but, like Nadal, he still has to show that he can do it on hardcourt. Fernando Gonzalez, whose approach to the game seems to spell hardcourts but whose results spell clay, is the #16 seed.

Which leaves quite a few big names unseeded: Carlos Moya, Paradorn Srichaphan, Sebastien Grosjean, Mikhail Youzhny, Andrei Pavel, Robin Soderling, Juan Ignacio Chela, Feliciano Lopez, Taylor Dent, Nicolas Kiefer, Nicolas Massu, Juan Carlos Ferrero, David Ferrer, Jiri Novak, Dominic Hrbaty, Greg Rusedski, Mario Ancic -- well, what can we say? It's a Masters Series. With only the most minor exceptions, everyone who can be here is here. Even Younes El Aynaoui is back, after not playing at the ATP level for some months.


The Rankings

We already mentioned the peculiar nature of this week: Players will take off an optional event and add a required. And, almost without exception, it will be their seventh (or however-manyeth) optional event coming off. The only guys in the Montreal draw who are defending anything of significance are Rafael Nadal (who won his first title at Sopot a year ago) and Jose Acasuso (the Sopot finalist). A few others -- Marat Safin and Nikolay Davydenko among them -- played Sopot, but without doing anything.

Which means that, for all practical purposes, players will simply be adding points this week.

It's not going to matter much at the top. Roger Federer's #1 ranking of course is in no danger. Rafael Nadal should stay #2, and Hewitt #3. The one significant move in the Top Five is that Andy Roddick has a chance to blow past Marat Safin and take a firm grip on the #4 ranking.

Andre Agassi of course has the chance to regain the ground he lost when his Cincinnati title came off. It's pretty much a contest between him and Nikolay Davydenko for the #6 spot.

We will of course have quite a few players with Top Ten chances. David Nalbandian seems the most likely to move up, but we'll be in a better position to predict that around Wednesday, after we've presumably shaken out the clay-courters.

[Teresa]

Noteworthy First Round Matches

Obviously a very long list. Starting at the top of the draw:

(1) Nadal vs. Moya. Historically Carlos Moya has had the better hardcourt results (though he's had a lot longer to compile them). But he hasn't been playing very well since his shoulder injury. And Nadal did reach the final of his last hardcourt event, at Miami. Psychologically, this is very interesting, since Moya has been rather a mentor for Nadal.

Srichaphan vs. Grosjean. Two players whose rankings have fallen a lot lately. Srichaphan has been showing signs of life; Grosjean hasn't, really. But the Frenchman is probably a better player when he's at his best. On the other hand, Srichaphan probably likes hardcourts better.

Youzhny vs. (15) Gasquet. Youzhny has not been having a very good year, but he's much more accustomed to hardcourts.

(12) T. Johansson vs. Karlovic. If what happened at Washington is any indication, the outcome of this may depend on just how hot it is; Karlovic, by virtue of his size, seems to be very easily affected by heat.

C. Rochus vs. Pavel. Pavel is a former champion, but he has been struggling, and Rochus is having a career year.

Horna vs. (8) Puerta. Horna, strangely for a South American, seems to be at his best on hardcourts, and Puerta definitely isn't. History implies a high chance of an upset, especially since Puerta has been struggling even on clay since Roland Garros.

Soderling vs. (14) Stepanek. Stepanek is in a funk, and the surface may be better for Soderling anyway.

(9) Nalbandian vs. Chela. Two countrymen, with Nalbandian the better but more fragile.

Melzer vs. Berdych. Berdych seems at last to have come back to life. Melzer -- who knows?

(13) Ljubicic vs. Dent. Talk about a serving contest! Ljubicic has a bit more off the ground, so court speed could be important.

Kiefer vs. Massu. Two guys who have been slipping this year. The surface is better for Kiefer, and he has less to defend in the next month. Can Massu get his game together before his Olympics points come off next week?

(7) Coria vs. Ferrero. Juan Carlos Ferrero has definitely been getting his game back, but Coria continues to beat him like a drum. On the other hand, Ferrero gave himself time to practice on hardcourts, and Coria didn't.

Ferrer vs. Santoro. Can the Spaniard's speed offset Santoro's kitchen sink of shots? This is Santoro's best Masters: He has a career record of 17-8 in Canada, with a semifinal and four quarterfinals.

Novak vs. Andreev. Two guys who are happier on other surfaces. Novak has the edge in experience, Andreev probably in enthusiasm.

Hrbaty vs. (10) Henman. The surface favors Henman. But he really has to start playing better!

(16) Gonzalez vs. Mirnyi. If Gonzalez keeps the ball in the court, his passing shots will win this. Will he keep the ball in the court?


Key Matches

Given those rankings numbers, there aren't all that many of those. The biggest questions really resolve around how will various players perform. Can Nadal finally win a non-clay title? His path certainly isn't helpful: After facing Moya in the first, he has a fairly easy second round, but then Gasquet, then probably Thomas Johansson, then Roddick. Roddick himself should have an easy route to the quarterfinal, but there, he has to face either Nalbandian or Davydenko -- guys who can extend a rally much longer than Roddick wants it to last.

#2 seed Hewitt really came to life around this time last year, with the Cincinnati final (already off), the Long Island title, and the U. S. Open final. Even though he isn't defending at this time, he definitely wants to take advantage of his (really quite nice) draw: A qualifier, then probably Mario Ancic, then Gonzalez, then Henman or Coria, then Agassi or somebody.

Agassi himself wants to show that his title at Los Angeles was no fluke, and that he's still able to play long enough to win a big event. His opening match, against speedy Alberto Martin, may test his stamina, as may Vincent Spadea in the second. Still, his quarter is among the easiest in the draw -- the first seed he would face is the slumping Ljubicic, then Robredo or Gaudio. The really interesting question may be, If he does well, will he play Cincinnati also?

The other match we'd keep our eyes on is the Round of Sixteen meeting between Nalbandian and Davydenko. A win there would give Nalbandian real Top Ten chances.

[Teresa]

Ily, I forgot about the time difference from your end
Its not a prob sweetie I will post the oop later
Thanks

[Mariana]

Thank you for all the articles and the draw

Yeah,some of the first round matches will be very interesting

[Teresa]

Order of Play

Monday, August 8, 2005

Central start 11:00 AM
M Youzhny (RUS) vs (15)R Gasquet (FRA)
UDACHI Misha

Not before 1:00 PM
D Hrbaty (SVK) vs (10)T Henman (GBR)
(9)D Nalbandian (ARG) vs J Chela (ARG)
Not before 7:30 PM
A Martin (ESP) vs (4)A Agassi (USA)
(WC)F Niemeyer (CAN) vs (5)N Davydenko (RUS)
UDACHI Koyla

Court BN start 11:00 AM
R Mello (BRA) vs (WC)P Bester (CAN)
(Q)K Kim (USA) vs (11)T Robredo (ESP)
(16)F Gonzalez (CHI) vs M Mirnyi (BLR)
Not before 6:30 PM
(Q)S Wawrinka (SUI) vs G Rusedski (GBR)
L Horna (PER) vs (8)M Puerta (ARG)

Court 5 start 11:00 AM
C Saulnier (FRA) vs M Ancic (CRO)
(Q)N Okun (ISR) vs K Beck (SVK)
Erlich/Ram vs Huss/Moodie

Court 9 start 11:00 AM
C Rochus (BEL) vs A Pavel (ROM)
O Rochus (BEL) vs (Q)N Mahut (FRA)
(Q)J Bjorkman (SWE) vs V Spadea (USA)
Not before 4:00 PM
(6)G Gaudio (ARG) vs (Q)D Sanguinetti (ITA)

[annie]

OH FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!!!!!!! MISHA HAS TO FACE GASQUET??? Come on sweetie!!!!!!!!!!! let's do this!!!!!!!!! Udachi!!!!!!!!!

[Karen]

Sorry Annie, Gasquet won in straight sets.

[SAFINNO1]

Misha never found no rhythm and was clearly outplayed by Gasquet. Better luck next time

[Teresa]

Koyla won his match