Rogers Cup Photos and Recap: Qualifying Day 1

Back home from my first day of covering the Rogers Cup in Toronto. I'll be at the tournament every day this week, so check back often for photos, videos, and news. As expected, there were not many big name players on the practice courts today, as they either withdrew (Federer, Nadal, Roddick, Ferrer, Wawrinka, Almagro, and most recently Feliciano Lopez) or they're still at the Olympics (Djokovic and Murray). However, I did get a chance to see lots of great players sweating it out in the ridiculous heat of Toronto.

First up on Court 1 was Italian Fabio Fognini who defeated Canadian Pavel Krainik in the first round of qualifying.

I heard Milos was on the practice courts so I quickly ditched the Fognini match and headed over to watch everyone's favourite Canadian. He was practicing with fellow Canadian Peter Polansky.

Then Milos stated telling his coach some crazy story where he made monster-like movements with his arms.

While watching Milos on the practice courts I turned around to catch Bernard Tomic posing for photos with a bunch of fans. Made me like him a little more.  

Men's Olympic Tennis Predictions

The first day of men's tennis action at the Olympics resulted in some not-so-surprising results (Federer, Del Potro, and Isner winning their first round matches), some sort-of-but-not-quite-surprising results (Tipsarevic defeating Nalbandian and Istomin defeating Verdasco), and some really surprising results (Berdych going down in straight sets to Steve Darcis—a player I've never even heard of). 

The Olympics have always seemed to produce unexpected tennis medalists, and while it would seem crazy to bet against a Federer/Djokovic gold medal match, we should brace ourselves for some big upsets (a la Tomas Berdych) as the event unfolds. 

First Quarter:

Roger Federer is the clear favorite in this quarter. Yes, the best two-out-of-three format might allow for an in-the-zone player to knock him out earlier than expected, but when Isner and Tipsarevic are the biggest threats you've got to think that Roger will make it out of this quarter with ease. 

Second Quarter:

This quarter is a little more up in the air. Ferrer and Del Potro seem to be the most likely to reach the semifinals, although I wouldn't be surprised to see Kohlschreiber knock Ferrer out in round two. I'll go with Del Potro and Ferrer playing in the quarterfinals with Ferrer going through to the semis. 

Third Quarter:

At first glance, Andy Murray appears to be the obvious favorite to make it out of his quarter—especially with the early exit of Tomas Berdych. But Murray was unlucky to draw Stan Wawrinka as his first round opponent, and if Wawrinka plays his best then he could be tough to beat. Murray should win this match though, and if he does then I don't see anyone stopping him from reaching the semis. 

Fourth Quarter:

This last quarter is tough. On most days Novak Djokovic could beat any of the players in this section with ease, but at the Olympics and on grass you've got to think that if they're playing well that Tsonga, Roddick, and Raonic all have a chance. As much as I want to pick someone less obvious than Novak, I just can't. I'll go with Djokovic defeating Tsonga in the quarters. 

Semifinals:

Federer defeats Ferrer

Djokovic defeats Murray

Finals:

Federer defeats Djokovic

Gold: Federer

Silver: Djokovic

Bronze: Murray

Medal Dark Horses:

Raonic, Tsonga, and Isner

Federer Regains No. 2 Ranking, Wins Madrid

Federer beat Berdych 3-6, 7-5, 7-5 in Madrid to take back his No. 2 ranking from Nadal. Who would have thought that Nadal would drop in the rankings during the clay court season? Certainly not me.

Check out the Madrid award ceremony and Federer's acceptance speech below:

Davis Cup Update: Serbia vs. Czech Republic

Novak Djokovic was scheduled to play against Radek Stepanek in the opening day's singles match, but he was forced to withdraw due to medical reasons. Novak, who surely would have beaten Radek, was replaced by Viktor Troicki who was, unfortunately, beaten in four sets by Stepanek. It seemed like the Czechs were going to win the next match as well, as Janko Tipsarevic was scheduled to play against the world number 7 Tomas Berdych, but Tipsarevic pulled off the win to even the score at 1-1. Djokovic and Zimonjic are currently playing doubles against Berdych and Stepanek, with the Serbians winning the first set and the Czechs winning the second.

Analyzing the US Open Men's Draw

Click here for the official men's draw for the 2010 US Open.

First Quarter (or Nadal's Quarter)

Obviously Nadal has to be the favorite to make it to the quarters, along with Verdasco, Nalbandian, and Ferrer. I wouldn't be surprised if Gulbis made it far as well, and I'd love to see him play Nadal in the quarterfinals.

Most interesting first round match:
Gulbis vs. Chardy or Ferrer vs. Dolgopolov.

Most interesting possible second round match:
Nadal vs. Istomin (and really, Nadal should kill him...but not many interesting second round matches to choose from so if you're going to watch someone you might as well watch Rafa)

Most interesting possible third round match:
Nalbandian vs. Verdasco

Most interesting possible round of 16 match:
Ferrer vs. Nalbandian (or Verdasco)

Quarterfinals prediction:
Nadal vs. Nalbandian

Second Quarter (or Murray's Quarter)

In my opinion, Murray and Berdych are the clear favorites to reach the quarterfinals in this section. Querrey and Wawrinka are capable of upsets but they'd have to beat Murray to get to the quarters, and I can't see that happening. Berdych could have some trouble with Almagro, Youzhny, or Isner (but that's only if Isner plays and if he's healthy, which at this point seems like it won't be happening), however, I'd be surprised if Berdych doesn't make it to the quarters.

Most interesting first round match:
Berdych vs. Llodra or Youzhny vs. Golubev

Most interesting possible second round match:
Stepanek vs. Robredo (I tried to find a better one, really I did)

Most interesting possible third round match:
Murray vs. Wawrinka or Almagro vs. Querrey

Most interesting possible round of 16 match:
Murray vs. Querrey or Youzhny vs. Berdych

Quarterfinals prediction:
Murray vs. Berdych

Video Profile of Tomas Berdych

Federer's Still Got It

Wow. What a match. Federer defeats Berdych 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 to book himself a place in the semifinals tomorrow against either Djokovic or Chardy. This was a pretty important match as Tomas had beaten Roger in their last two meetings, and I think Roger needed this win to feel confident about his chances at the US Open.

The match was played in front of a very pro-Federer crowd—which is totally great—but there were moments when people were cheering for Berdych's missed serves. Keep up the crazed excitement Toronto but don't cheer for a player's mistakes—never a cool thing to do!

Tomorrow's semifinals are going to be amazing: Nadal vs. Murray and Federer vs. Djokovic or Chardy. I think Roger will definitely beat either Novak or Jeremy, and I'm going to go with Rafa beating Andy, but I also wouldn't be surprised if Andy pulled out a win over Rafa.

Can't wait to see how it all turns out!

Federer is Back! And other news...

Amazing match yesterday evening at the Rogers Cup with Federer defeating Chela 7-6, 6-3. The Toronto crowd was very pro-Roger and they went absolutely crazy when he won. Federer looked confident and played aggressively and I really think he's going to go far in this tournament.

Other exciting matches yesterday included Nalbandian vs. Ferrer, with Nalby winning 7-5, 3-6, 6-3; Soderling vs. Gulbis, with Sod defeating Ernie 4-6, 6-4, 6-4; Berdych vs Stakhovsky, with Tomas winning 6-2, 6-4; Verdasco vs. Chardy, with Verdasco going through 6-0, 5-7, 6-2; Monfils vs. Devvarman, with Monfils winning 7-6(3), 6-3; and Wawrinka vs. Dancevic, with Wawrinka knocking out the Canadian 6-1, 6-4.

Below are some match photos from yesterday...

Analyzing the Rogers Cup Draw

I haven't had much time to post about the Rogers Cup draw because I've been at the event watching practice sessions all weekend, but today is my day to relax so I hope to get this site fully updated!

In case you missed it, I've been profiling the players I think have a chance to win the title in Toronto this year. Here they are in no particular order (click on the names to be taken to the original posts):

1. Rafa Nadal
2. Roger Federer
3. Andy Murray
4. Tomas Berdych
5. David Nalbandian

I made most of these picks before the draw came out, so let's look at the potential match-ups this week.

Nadal's Quarter
Nadal and Querrey should meet in the third round (although I'm not giving up the wild hope of Canadian Frank Dancevic beating Wawrinka in the first round and Nadal in the second), but the bottom of this quarter is trickier as a number of the men could make it through. As long as everything is okay with Andy Roddick (and things have not looked good the last few weeks) then he should make it to the third round where he could face Cilic, Kohlschreiber, or Tipsarevic. I'll go with Andy and Rafa playing in the quarterfinals with Rafa making it through to the semis.

Murray's Quarter
Murray should make it to the third round where he'll likely meet either Monfils or Gonzalez (Feli Lopez is a possibility as well). The other half of this quarter has the most interesting first round match of the tournament: Nalbandian vs. Ferrer. It's too bad these two drew each other for such an early match, but because of his amazing play last week I'm going to pick Nalbandian to make it through. A Soderling/Nalbandian third round match is a good possibility and although this could really go either way, I'll take Nalbandian to meet Andy Murray in the quarterfinals. If Nalbandian is on and plays his very best, then I think he can win, but anything less and I'll take Andy to make the semis.

Federer's Quarter
I'll take Federer and Almagro meeting in the third round, with Tomas Berdych and Gilles Simon making it to the third round in their half of the quarter. Federer and Berdych should win their matches and face each other in the quarterfinals. I wouldn't be surprised if either of them made it to the semis, but I think Roger will be the favourite and will win the match.

Djokovic's Quarter
Djokovic will likely meet Jurgen Melzer in the third round, with Davydenko and Verdasco the favourites to play each other in the third round of their section of the draw. If things play out like this I would expect some tough matches, but I'd take Djokovic and Verdasco to meet in the quarterfinals, with Djokovic making it through to the semis.

First round matches start today, and once we get through the first couple of rounds I will make predictions on the semifinal and final results.

Keep checking back here today as I will be posting more photos from the practice sessions this weekend.

Rogers Cup Pick: Tomas Berdych

Name: Tomas Berdych
Current ATP Rank: 8
Can he win the title? Yes, but I think it will depend on the draw

Tomas has had an amazing year. He beat Federer twice, reached the semifinals at the French Open, and played in the finals at Wimbledon. His ability to overpower his opponents with his powerful forehand and serve has resulted in some pretty great results this season.

Berdych is playing at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington right now—at his first tournament since Wimbledon—where he's just made his way into the quarterfinals. He seems to be doing well, and the fact that he'll have played some matches will likely help his chances at the Rogers Cup.

I would not be surprised at all if Tomas found a way to win the title in Toronto, but I do think that the draw will be important for him. We won't find out until 4pm today who he'll have to play against to get to the finals, but he certainly has as good a chance as anyone to claim his first Rogers Cup title.

Roddick, Berdych: Top Seeds at Legg Mason

The Legg Mason Tennis Classic begins this weekend in Washington, D.C, with quite a few of the top players in attendance—minus, of course, Federer and Nadal, the two players everyone has been waiting to see since Wimbledon. But although Rafa and Roger won’t be playing until next week at the Rogers Cup in Toronto, the Legg Mason Tennis Classic has the potential for some great matches.

Seeded Players and Their Chances at Legg Mason:

1. Tomas Berdych (CZE)
Tomas has had an amazing season so far with a semifinal result at Roland Garros and a final appearance at Wimbledon, where he had to beat 6-time Wimbledon winner Roger Federer along the way. Berdych hits the ball incredibly hard and he should be able to overwhelm the majority of other players at this event. If he plays the way he’s played all year then he should make the finals where he’ll likely meet Andy Roddick—the only player who will really be able to challenge him for the title.

2. Andy Roddick (USA)
Even though Andy lost early last week in Atlanta, he should make it to the finals in Washington where he has a good chance of winning the title. He’ll want to prove that the loss in Atlanta was a fluke and that he’s ready to do well for the rest of the US Open Series, and there’s no one in his half of the draw that he can’t beat.

3. Fernando Verdasco (ESP)
Verdasco should win his first two rounds fairly easily and then he’ll likely meet Ernests Gulbis or Marcos Baghdatis in the quarterfinals. Baghdatis did not look good in L.A. this week and Gulbis needs to calm down on court (ie. stop smashing multiple raquets) if he wants to win his matches, so Verdasco should make it to the semifinals where he’ll more than likely fall to Berdych.

4. Marin Cilic (CRO)
Cilic really hasn’t done much lately so it would be surprising if he went too far into the draw. To get to the quarterfinals he’ll have to go through Mardy Fish, one of the hottest players of the summer, and if Mardy is healthy I just don’t see it happening.

5. John Isner (USA)
Isner has had some decent results this summer, although he couldn’t take down Mardy Fish in the recent Atlanta finals. He should make it to the quarterfinals though, where he’ll likely lose to Berdych.

The rest of the top ten includes (6)Sam Querrey (USA), (7) Stan Wawrinka (SUI), (8) Marcos Baghdatis (CYP), (9) Ernests Gulbis (LAT), and (10) Radek Stepanek (CZE). Can’t see any of these players winning the title, although Querrey could make the semis, and at this point I’d take the number 11 seed Lleyton Hewitt, or number 15 seed Mardy Fish (as long as his injured ankle has healed) over guys like Baghdatis, Gulbis, or Stepanek.

The entire draw can be seen at the website for the Legg Mason Tennis Classic.