2009 Rogers Cup

by ryzim22 on Aug 10, 2009 10:41 AM EDT Comment 22 comments

Last year truly was not Rogers' Cup as he lost to Gilles Simon in the second round. This years tournament should be excellent as the top 16 seeds are in the top 17 in the world. Two notable players who will not be here are James Blake and Robin Soderling. They both withdrew last week due to injuries. This tournament also marks the return of Rafael Nadal for the first time since Roland Garros. Andy Murray hopes to back up his success this year and has the draw to do it. If he can get by his first match and then a tough match with Monfils or Hewitt, I think he will be Davydenko or Gonzalez or Karlovic easily. Roddick and Djokovic are in the same draws and should reach the quarters. For my picks, I think Del Potro will beat Nadal in the quarters. I think Roddick will be Djokovic in the quarters. Also, Fed over Tsonga and Murray over Davydenko. I got Roddick over Murray in the finals. Maybe that pick was with my heart, but I think he can do it. Interesting first round matches include... Gilles Simon vs Frank Dancevic. I think Dancevic will upset the number 9 seeded Simon. Gael Monfils vs Marat Safin should be very intersting. I got Monfils. Another big matchup will be Tommy Haas vs Ivo Karlovic. I'll take the big server. I also got Igor Andreev over Tursunov....

Post your comments and predictions as well as anything else about this great tournament. Go Andy!!!

0 recs | Comment 22 comments

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Simon

Man, Gilles needs to do something soon, or he’ll be nothing but a distant memory when it comes to being in the top-10.

by the fan child on Aug 10, 2009 3:42 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Lets see what he does...

Number 14 Marin Cilic already out with a loss to Mikhail Youzhny
Tursunov retires again

by ryzim22 on Aug 10, 2009 5:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

and Querry goes down to Philipp Petzschner in straight sets...

not good for Querrey

by ryzim22 on Aug 10, 2009 8:14 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Top 10 is kind of a funny benchmark. In tennis, it’s usually about multiples of 4… I think Top 8 is the real benchmark (as in, you are favoured to reach a major quarterfinal). Simon was in there for a little while, but he never struck me as a guy that could stay up there for a long time.

There are a couple of points that there are drop offs in quality in the men’s field, and really anyone from about 8 to 22 or so (not an exact spot) are fairly close with little to discern between them. Each player has great strengths but also some pretty glaring holes in their game that can be exploited.

Hockey blogging can't get any flatter.

by saskhab on Aug 10, 2009 6:55 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Top 8 may be better

…but it’s still pretty arbitrary. It’s nice if you’re favored to reach a QF, but that only means so much if you’re virtually guaranteed to lose that QF. :)

Ultimately, it depends on who’s around and playing well at any given point. I agree that’s there is very little difference between 8 and 20ish. Really, you can make an argument that there’s little difference between 10 and 100 in the men’s game right now. Obviously #10 is favored to beat #100, but on the right surface, when #10 is a little off, it might not even be close.

Right now, the meaningful number (IMHO) is six. Any of the top 6 has a real shot at any tournament. After that, anybody else is a dark horse for a Masters or Grand Slam, except for Davydenko, maybe. But even he is considerably more of a dark horse than Roddick or JMDP.

Also, cheese.

by Jeff Sackmann on Aug 10, 2009 7:33 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I’d definitely agree that the men’s game now has very little difference between 8 and 20. Players like Wawrinka and Simon have made it into the top ten without ever being considered favorites to make major noise at a big tournament.

The Daily Forehand -- SB Nation's Tennis Destination.
Broad Street Hockey.

by Ben Rothenberg on Aug 10, 2009 11:07 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

The one in that group that I keep waiting on doing more damage is Tsonga, but he doesn’t seem to bring his top game consistently enough.

Hockey blogging can't get any flatter.

by saskhab on Aug 11, 2009 11:03 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

agreed

by ryzim22 on Aug 11, 2009 11:27 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'll be there tomorrow for federer's match

Ted Ginn is the man.

by topspin on Aug 11, 2009 12:09 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Awesome, I’d love to get a report from you on how he’s playing after a long layoff.

The Daily Forehand -- SB Nation's Tennis Destination.
Broad Street Hockey.

by Ben Rothenberg on Aug 11, 2009 12:23 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Some intersting matches today...

Lleyton Hewitt vs Juan Carlos Ferrero
John Isner vs Jesse Levine
Tommy Haas vs Ivo Karlovic- match of the day
Fed, Murray, and Djoker all in action today
Should be a great day of tennis.

by ryzim22 on Aug 11, 2009 10:18 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

The two Canadians that are left have to go up against Federer (Niemeyer) and Djokovic (Polansky). I don’t think there’s going to be any Canadian media darlings after today. lol

Hockey blogging can't get any flatter.

by saskhab on Aug 11, 2009 11:08 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

no, and one of the other Candainans lost to Polansky...

bad scheduling… Dancevic didnt really put up a fight last night either

by ryzim22 on Aug 11, 2009 11:28 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

don't forget Milos Raonic!

He was wildcarded into qualifying, and he plays Gonzalez tonight. Pretty impressive for #679 in the world, even if his odds of lasting til tomorrow aren’t very good. He had to beat Gabashvili and Llodra to qualify, not exactly an easy draw.

Also, cheese.

by Jeff Sackmann on Aug 11, 2009 4:47 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

The man from down under goes down to JC Ferrero

by ryzim22 on Aug 11, 2009 12:43 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Not a horrible loss, but one I expected Hewitt to win.

I think, and I’ll double check this, that he always does really well on even years when the tournament is in Toronto, but not so much when it’s an odd year in Montreal.

The Daily Forehand -- SB Nation's Tennis Destination.
Broad Street Hockey.

by Ben Rothenberg on Aug 11, 2009 5:17 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

His backhand was a mess, but Djokovic escaped Polansky.

Hardly looks primed to make a deep run, though.

The Daily Forehand -- SB Nation's Tennis Destination.
Broad Street Hockey.

by Ben Rothenberg on Aug 11, 2009 6:37 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Hes had a shaky year so far, hasn't he?

I know he hasnt really performed in the majors.

by ryzim22 on Aug 11, 2009 8:31 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

His year hasn’t been up to his usual standards, but Peter Polansky is outside the top 200. Really not someone who should be giving a top four player any trouble.

The Daily Forehand -- SB Nation's Tennis Destination.
Broad Street Hockey.

by Ben Rothenberg on Aug 11, 2009 10:21 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Federer got tested as well by his Canadian opponent on centre court who was ranked almost 500 spots below him. But yeah, Novak needs to get it together.

As quality of a tour event as this is, it is just a tuneup for the big show in a couple of weeks. But Novak does seem behind not only the guys ahead of him (although we’ve yet to see how Rafa looks), but a few guys below him as well.

Hockey blogging can't get any flatter.

by saskhab on Aug 12, 2009 2:00 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs