Across the Net: Opening the Next Can and Tennis in the Queen City

Posted by Dan Martin on 08.14.2006

Mopping up action from the Canadian Open, Previewing Masters Series Cincinnati, and Looking at Ladies Tennis.

Roger Federer continues to make history in men's tennis. On August 13, he won the Masters' Series Canada event for the second time in three years. Federer beat an impressive Richard Gasquet 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the final. Federer reached his 17th consecutive tournament final! Those 17 tournaments have not been B level events either. Federer has reached the finals or better at 5 Grand Slam events, at 6 Masters Series events, and at the 2005 year ending Masters Cup. The 25 year old Federer also claimed his 40th tournament title. Given that the 36 year old Agassi has won 60 titles, Federer is making impressive time.

Not to be lost in the glow of Federer's brilliance was the emergence of the "Next Can." Several years ago ATP tennis launched an advertising campaign called "New Balls Please" (this ad campaign led to the normally stoic Pete Sampras proclaiming that the old balls still had plenty of bounce in them ...) that hyped young players such as Marat Safin, Lleyton Hewitt and Andy Roddick. The players of the "New Balls" generation are all now in their mid 20's. In Montreal, Roger Federer held down the fort for the "New Balls" guys, but the "Next Can" also announced its presence. 20 year old Thomas Berdych beat 20 year old and world #2 Rafael Nadal 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 in the round of 16. 20 year old Andy Murray reached the semifinals a week after being runner-up in DC. 20 year old Richard Gasquet beat world #6 James Blake, Thomas Berdych and Andy Murray en route to the finals. Gasquet took it to Federer winning the first set 6-2 and jumping to a 0-40 lead on Federer's serve in the first game of the second set. Federer righted the ship by holding serve and holding off the young gun, but Gasquet has announced his presence as a U.S. Open contender.

Conversely, the "New Balls" not named Federer did not acquit themselves as well. Marat Safin failed to build on his momentum from DC and lost in the first round. Lleyton Hewitt retired with injuries in a match vs. Thomas Johansson. Andy Roddick missed the entire event with a bad back. While I would never say a player who is 26 (or 23 in the case of Roddick) is over the hill, Hewitt, Safin, and Roddick will all have to contend with a set of young hungry contenders. Failure to do so will lead to more weeks like Montreal for the not so "New Balls."

On the women's side of things Elena Dementieva won the event in Carson, CA. Dementieva was runner-up at the 2004 U.S. Open and a semifinalist in 2005. Her win over Maria Sharapova in the semifinals might represent a mental breakthrough vs. her fellow Russian. Dementieva competes well and is a great athlete. She cannot be discounted as a threat to win the U.S. Open, but her serve is still a major liability. The five favorites for the Women's U.S. Open now stand as Mauresmo, Henin-Hardene, Clijsters, Sharapova and Dementieva.

Now we move onto Tennis Masters Series Cincinnati. I will spend one or more days at this event as I have the previous four years and it thus ranks as my favorite tournament in the world. Much like Montreal it boasts a field of 64 that includes the vast majority of the world's top 30 players. The event is fan accessible and represents one of the few tennis showcases in the Midwest. The practice courts and side courts offer up close looks at elite players. The Stadium Court is well constructed with good lines of sight.

The draw for Cincinnati is not particularly easy for either Federer or Nadal. Federer faces a tricky first round match and also stares down a second round encounter with Andy Murray. Federer may face a rematch of last year's final against Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals. Nadal looks at DC champion Arnaud Clement in the 2nd round. Clement defeated Nadal earlier this year on an indoor court. Nadal could find either Thomas Berdych or James Blake in the quarterfinals. Blake and Berdych are a combined 4-0 vs. Nadal on hard courts. UPSET SPECIAL Third seed David Nalbandian has a soft enough draw to get the bad taste of last week's 1st round defeat out of his mouth. However, Cincinnati is incredibly humid, and Nalbandian is not the most fit guy on tour. Fernando Gonzalez looks to be the strongest player in that quarter of the draw. Fourth seeded Croatian Ivan Ljubicic has a good draw to reach the quarterfinals. However, in the quarters Ljubicic is likely to face either Richard Gasquet or Jarkko Nieminen of Finland. My gut says Wimbledon quarterfinalist Nieminen makes it to the semifinals.

Predictions: Semifinals: Federer d. Gonzalez 7-6, 7-5 Berdych d. Nieminen 6-7, 7-5, 7-5
Finals: Federer d. Berdych 6-4, 6-3