Rogers Cup Preview - Much to gain for Federer, Murray, Djokovic, Roddick

Think the recent American men’s tennis drought is bad?
Try being a fan in Canada, where this week’s Rogers’ Cup will be held in Toronto. The top ranked Canadian men’s player is Peter Polansky, who checks in at No. 207 in the world. Polansky enters the Cup as a wildcard, drawing 13th-seeded Jurgen Melzer in the first round.

The US Open is still three tantalizing weeks away, but the Rogers Cup looks to be one delicious appetizer this weekend, with 17 of the top 20 men in the world on the docket.

The world’s No. 1 player, Rafael Nadal, returns to action for the first time since taking the crown at Wimbledon. With a huge lead in points (nearly 4,000 ahead of Novak Djokovic), Rafa is playing more for his ever-growing legacy than his year-end ranking. Toronto has been good to Nadal in the past. He took the crown there in 2005 and 2008.



The men with the most to gain are No. 2 Djokovic and No. 3 Roger Federer. Heading into Monday’s first round, Djokovic holds an 110-point lead over Federer in the rankings. Whoever is ranked No. 2 going into the US Open avoids potentially playing Nadal until the final. Djokovic defeated Federer for the crown here in 2007, while Federer won it in 2004 and 2006.

Fourth-ranked Andy Murray won the Rogers Cup a year ago, and is playing well, having reached the semifinals at Wimbledon and the finals in Los Angeles. A route back to the semifinals will be no easy task for Murray, however. Hot players including Washington champion David Nalbandian, France’s Gael Monfils, Belgium’s Xavier Malisse, and the always-dangerous Robin Soderling and David Ferrer are all potential opponents before the semifinals. Murray has yet to win a single title in 2010, after taking six in 2009 and five in 2008.

Nadal’s quadrant of the bracket contains a pair of Americans hoping to retain former glory north of the border. Seeded eighth overall is Andy Roddick, who fell out of the Top 10 this week, leaving the United States without a Top 10 player for the first time in the Open Era. Roddick made the final three years in a row from 2002-2004, winning the crown in 2003. With a strong showing, Roddick can reclaim his spot in the Top 10 as France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, currently ranked 10th and 220 points ahead of him, has withdrawn from the tournament with a minor injury.

Seeded 16th is American Sam Querry, who slipped out of the Top 20 this week as Marcos Baghdatis shot up five places to 20th. After making waves by winning at Los Angeles, Querry flamed out in the second round at Washington last week, losing to Serbia’s Janko Tipsarevic.