ATP Masters Toronto

[Drummond]

Main Draw:

(1) FEDERER, Roger SUI/BYE
QUALIFIER v SIMON, Gilles FRA
ACASUSO, Jose ARG v GULBIS, Ernests LAT
BENNETEAU, Julien FRA v (14) GONZALEZ, Fernando CHI
(12) ROBREDO, Tommy ESP v (WC) NIEMEYER, Frederic CAN
CILIC, Marin CRO v QUALIFIER
TIPSAREVIC, Janko SRB v MAHUT, Nicolas FRA
BYE/(6) RODDICK, Andy USA

(4) DAVYDENKO, Nikolay RUS/BYE
MOYA, Carlos ESP v HAAS, Tommy GER
FISH, Mardy USA v KIEFER, Nicolas GER
SEPPI, Andreas ITA v (15) YOUZHNY, Mikhail RUS
(11) STEPANEK, Radek CZE v LOPEZ, Feliciano ESP
TURSUNOV, Dmitry RUS v LAPENTTI, Nicolas ECU
QUALIFIER v QUALIFIER
BYE/(7) BLAKE, James USA

(8) MURRAY, Andy/BYE
QUALIFIER v QUALIFIER
(WC) SAFIN, Marat v QUERREY, Sam
BOLELLI, Simone v (9) WAWRINKA, Stanislas
(13) VERDASCO, Fernando v BELLUCCI, Thomaz
CANAS, Guillermo v SODERLING, Robin
(WC) DANCEVIC, Frank v ANCIC, Mario
BYE/(3) DJOKOVIC, Novak

(5) FERRER, David/BYE
GINEPRI, Robby v MATHIEU, Paul-Henri
QUALIFIER v KOHLSCHREIBER, Philipp
LLODRA, Michael v (10) GASQUET, Richard
(16) BERDYCH, Tomas v NIEMINEN, Jarkko
MONFILS, Gael v ANDREEV, Igor
(WC) POLANSKY, Peter v BAGHDATIS, Marcos
BYE/(2) NADAL, Rafael

It'll be very interesting to see how Nadal fares back on hard courts. Could be some cracking second round matches, with Nadal v Baghdatis on the cards as well as Ancic v Djokovic. Starts tomorrow night and Fox Sports will provide coverage.

 

[aaronm46]

Cmon Jarrko Neimenen

 

[BLPC08]

I want Safin to maintain his Wimbledon form and give the tournament a good shake - I dont think Sam Queery will pose too many threats to the Big Russian.

 

[Drummond]

What's the best Safin loses tonight?

Gasquet was pretty underwhelming yesterday. He won in 3 sets against Llodra but if he was up against anyone better he would have lost. Should have wrapped it up in straight sets but typically lost his way in the second set. Llodra had two break points in the third set and had two seconds serves but failed to do anything on either one. He should win his next match but he'll probably lose to Ferrer.

Gonzalez looked pretty good and had a convincing win over Benneteau as he should have.

Dancevic caused the upset of the night beating Mario Ancic in straight sets just when it looked as though the Croatian was gaining form.

 

[BLPC08]

Dancevic lost to Djokovic in straight set, pretty boring spectacle (as nearly all of Djokovic's matches are)

Safin is locked at 1-1 with Queery, hopefully the big guy can down him

I think if Fed is unable to win this tournament he is extremely unlikely to keep his number 1 ranking by years end, Rafa is certainly within reach - and Djokovic isn't far behind either.

 

[heals]

Federer just lost to Gilles Simon of France in 3: 2-6 7-5 6-4. Fed was up breaks twice in the second but couldnt hold on, his footwork was sloppy and his decision making was good at best.

 

[BLPC08]

Federer's loss to Simon confirms what we believed already - he is on a downward spiral and by years end he may be back in the pack.

I saw Nadal's match today against Andreev, his serve has improved out of sight and I would tip either him or Djokovic to triumph at the US Open; thus ending Federer's stranglehold on the number 1 ranking.

 

[Drummond]

Anyone catch Nadal/Andreev last night? Rafa played exceptionally well, especially for the first set and a bit. He didn't face a single break point the entire match which I think basically sums up how well he played. The only thing that wasn't up to his usual standard was that he didn't convert the break points as well as he would have liked. But that tiebreak was a pretty special display. Igor played very well in the second set and yet Rafa was at no stage in any danger. Given the way he played yesterday, he is going to be very, very tough to beat.

And how about Roddick losing to Cilic? Roddick is just very ordinary IMO. He won a Slam and reached World #1 so I guess that may be going over the top, but that's how I feel about his game. Cilic's currently in action against the man in red-hot form Gilles Simon. Simon has a very enjoyable game to watch and it's been great seeing him hit top form because he's always been capable of playing to this level.

Some awesome Quarter Finals later today:

Nadal v Gasquet
Djokovic v Murray

 

[Kaan]

What happened to Safin?

 

[BenF]

Gasquet wins the first set in a tiebreak

But is down a break in the 2nd

 

[ShearMagic9]

Murray won 6-3 7-6.

 

[heals]

Fed is not going down hill. Hes played some bad tennis and some of his worst was at Wimbledon. He will win the US and then go onto win all 4 majors next year.

 

[heals]

Semis' are :

Murray vs Nadal
Simon vs Kiefer

Hoping its a Murray v Simon final

 

[Drummond]

Fed is not going down hill. Hes played some bad tennis and some of his worst was at Wimbledon. He will win the US and then go onto win all 4 majors next year.

All four? Considering the fact that he's on the decline (FACT) at best he's winning 3, there is NO way he's winning all 4. His best chance to win the French Open has come and gone.

Been taping all the action over the past few days (with a few mixed results) so only just caught the Quarter Finals.

Not sure what’s happening with Djokovic right now as he is playing some pretty ordinary tennis. He wasn’t bad against Murray but just didn’t play with the same precision and made too many uncharacteristic errors. Murray played a terrific match and thoroughly deserved the win.

As for the Nadal/Gasquet game, lovely Foxtel IQ ran out of recording time about midway through the second set, just as Nadal got the break to lead 3-1. The first set was some of the finest tennis I’ve seen but really Nadal should have won it. He twice broke serve to take the lead but failed to hold serve. Then in the marathon tiebreak Gasquet had 3 set points (not consecutively) but choked each time. I can’t believe he actually managed to win the tiebreak as I thought Nadal would break him down mentally but Gasquet took his chances.

Recorded the Gilles/Kiefer game but forgot to record the Nadal/Murray game which lets just say I wasn’t exactly thrilled about.

How many games will Kiefer take off Rafa in the final?

 

[Scruff83]

How many games will Kiefer take off Rafa in the final?

Hmmm, 5?

Well done to Rafa, could be #1 in a weeks time.

 

[BLPC08]

Fed is not going down hill. Hes played some bad tennis and some of his worst was at Wimbledon. He will win the US and then go onto win all 4 majors next year.

Even for a Federer fan, of which you clearly are, your prediction is one of the most delusional things I have ever heard.

I would consider him an outside chance to win the US Open at best, and if he can win any Grand Slams next year I would be shocked.

Face the facts, Nadal and Djokovic have clearly gone past him - he hasn't beaten either of them in 2008, nor does he look likely to beat either of them. Andy Murray is on the verge of going past him, and beat him in their only meeting this year.

Its a combination of the rest of the world improving, and Federer moving down a few notches in his level of play. He has been quite poor in 2008 if you compare him to any of the previous 5 years - has lost many matches to players he would regularly cream in the past (ie: Mardy Fish, Gilles Simon, Radek Stepanek, Andy Roddick and Murray)

 

[Kaan]

Even for a Federer fan, of which you clearly are, your prediction is one of the most delusional things I have ever heard.

I would consider him an outside chance to win the US Open at best, and if he can win any Grand Slams next year I would be shocked.

Face the facts, Nadal and Djokovic have clearly gone past him - he hasn't beaten either of them in 2008, nor does he look likely to beat either of them. Andy Murray is on the verge of going past him, and beat him in their only meeting this year.

Its a combination of the rest of the world improving, and Federer moving down a few notches in his level of play. He has been quite poor in 2008 if you compare him to any of the previous 5 years - has lost many matches to players he would regularly cream in the past (ie: Mardy Fish, Gilles Simon, Radek Stepanek, Andy Roddick and Murray)

Djokovic is useless.

I just want to see Rafa and Fed play in US Open Final to be fully convinced that Rafa > Fed

 

[Drummond]

Well to be expected a pretty underwhelming final. Nadal did indeed win 6-3, 6-2 and he was never in trouble. The only game in which he had to put up a fight was while serving at 2-2 in the second set, the game lasted 10+ minutes and Kiefer had 3 oppertunities to break. Once Rada held, there was no doubt he was going to go on and win the match and that's exactly what he did, he broke immediately after and again while Kiefer was serving to stay in the match. Rafa didn't even need to play anywhere near his best and he still cruised to victory. In many ways it was a disappointing end to the tournament because there had been some top class matches in the previous rounds. Well done Rafa on another outstanding tournament; his 5th consecutive title victory and he's very close to taking over from Federer as the World #1.

And before you know it Cincinnati is underway...

Djokovic is useless.

I just want to see Rafa and Fed play in US Open Final to be fully convinced that Rafa > Fed

Australian Open champion, titles at Indian Wells and Rome, R/U at Queens, SF at Hamburg and Roland Garros, all this year, all for a guy 20 years of age. Yeah, Djokovic is useless.

And Rafa just beat Federer on GRASS. How can you not be convinced?

 

[Rick18]

Nadal did indeed win 6-3, 6-2

Hmmm, 5?

Boom-tish!

 

[Lloydy4Pope]

Even for a Federer fan, of which you clearly are, your prediction is one of the most delusional things I have ever heard.

I would consider him an outside chance to win the US Open at best, and if he can win any Grand Slams next year I would be shocked.

Face the facts, Nadal and Djokovic have clearly gone past him - he hasn't beaten either of them in 2008, nor does he look likely to beat either of them. Andy Murray is on the verge of going past him, and beat him in their only meeting this year.

Its a combination of the rest of the world improving, and Federer moving down a few notches in his level of play. He has been quite poor in 2008 if you compare him to any of the previous 5 years - has lost many matches to players he would regularly cream in the past (ie: Mardy Fish, Gilles Simon, Radek Stepanek, Andy Roddick and Murray)

Fish and Stepanek were bad losses. He has never really destroyed Roddick consistently other than that AUS OPEN quarter final a few years ago. Murray is not even close to passing Federer or breaking into the top bracket (Fed, Djokovic, Nadal), although I agree he probably has the talent. Federer is CLEARLY half a metre slower, proably caused in part because of an interrupted off-season with mono-nucleuosis (glandular fever). Nadal has raised his game and improved, which can in part be attributed to his good run with injuries this year. Djokovic has had the benefit of playing without restrictions at all for the first 6 months of the year, but is now dealing with being the 'hunted'. We cannot write of a champion of the game for the past 5 years just because of the last 8-9 months (this year and last part of last year). This time next year we will get a better indication of where the 3 'top' players are in relative comparison to each other. Federer needs to find a little bit more, but he really isn't doing much wrong this year. As mentioned earlier, some matches have been poor against weaKer opponents (especially Ramirez-Hidelgo), but his performance against Nadal at Wimbledon was one of the best of his career. Unfortunately, Federer does not play his ABSOLUTE best tennis against Nadal because Rafa causes him so much trouble on his backhand. In 12 months time we will be better equipped to decide the order of mens tennis - it will most likely be where it stands now - Federer..Nadal.......Djokovic

 

[Drummond]

Fish and Stepanek were bad losses. He has never really destroyed Roddick consistently other than that AUS OPEN quarter final a few years ago. Murray is not even close to passing Federer or breaking into the top bracket (Fed, Djokovic, Nadal), although I agree he probably has the talent. Federer is CLEARLY half a metre slower, proably caused in part because of an interrupted off-season with mono-nucleuosis (glandular fever). Nadal has raised his game and improved, which can in part be attributed to his good run with injuries this year. Djokovic has had the benefit of playing without restrictions at all for the first 6 months of the year, but is now dealing with being the 'hunted'. We cannot write of a champion of the game for the past 5 years just because of the last 8-9 months (this year and last part of last year). This time next year we will get a better indication of where the 3 'top' players are in relative comparison to each other. Federer needs to find a little bit more, but he really isn't doing much wrong this year. As mentioned earlier, some matches have been poor against weaKer opponents (especially Ramirez-Hidelgo), but his performance against Nadal at Wimbledon was one of the best of his career. Unfortunately, Federer does not play his ABSOLUTE best tennis against Nadal because Rafa causes him so much trouble on his backhand. In 12 months time we will be better equipped to decide the order of mens tennis - it will most likely be where it stands now - Federer..Nadal.......Djokovic

Highly unlikely Federer will be World #1 in 12 months time.

 

[Lloydy4Pope]

Highly unlikely Federer will be World #1 in 12 months time.

Perhaps, but Nada; will be defending all his points the first 6 months of next year, Federer will have very little to defend