The unsinkable Guillermo Cañas turned in a splendid display of returning and baseline excellence to outsteady an overanxious Andy Roddick in the singles final, on the most comfortable day of the week, under partly cloudy skies.
After a report on the singles final we will conclude with a salute to doubles champions, the Bryan twins? and unfurl the Honour Roll, a look back at the highs and lows of this week.
Guillermo Cañas def. Andy Roddick (12), 6-4, 7-5
Final
Previous head-to-head: first meeting
Unseeded Argentine Guillermo Cañas completed his dream week in Toronto, returning Andy Roddick?s vaunted serve with alarming proficiency and playing almost error-free tennis in a 6-4, 7-5 triumph. After beating top ten players Roger Federer, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Marat Safin and Tommy Haas in earlier rounds, Cañas finished off Roddick, who is not in the top ten now, but will be when tomorrow?s rankings come out. It was Guillermo?s third career title and second of the year, and with a 43-19 win loss record
in 2002 he is only one win behind the tour leader in match wins, who is none other than the young man he defeated today.
Set one
This first set was decided by the superiority of Cañas?s return game. This was not the case in the early going, as Roddick hit two aces in each of his first two service games. But Guillermo increasingly got his racquet on the teenager?s big bombs, and by the end of the first set was regularly returning them in play.
Cañas was also taking lots of time between points, which seemed to frustrate Andy, who likes to play at a fast pace. The American complained to umpire Steve Ullrich at one point, arguing that he thought the server had the right to dictate the pace of play, but was told that Cañas was doing nothing against the rules. To his credit, Roddick refused to use this an excuse for his loss. ?It didn?t affect me during the points.? You can bet the other players on tour were taking notes....
The break finally came in the ninth game. At 4-4, 30-30, Cañas drives a strong first serve return, and an off-balance Roddick sends a backhand beyond the baseline. Roddick saves a break point (the first in the match for either player) with a risky second serve ace, but dies by the sword at deuce, double faulting. Cañas makes good on his second break point, again hammering a solid, deep first serve return: again unprepared, Roddick sends a short reply that Cañas returns and follows to the net. Andy?s pass
ing shot fails to clear the net, and Cañas, pumping his fist, celebrates. ?Willy? serves out the set at love, and secures the lead, 6-4, after 34 minutes of play.
A statistic worthy of note: Cañas committed only one unforced error in the first set.
Set two
The Argentine supporters we described yesterday were deliriously happy, and chanted, sang and waved the flag throughout the pause between sets. Today the Argentines were standing next to the zany pro-Roddick ?NetHeads? (about whom we also talked yesterday), and the back-and-forth chanting kept the crowd amused. The players also appreciated the ambience. ?That made it fun,? commented Roddick. ?I?d like to see more of that in tennis.?
Roddick got himself in trouble as he served to open set two. At 15-15 he double-faultd twice, and lost serve at 15-40 when he was outsteadied, as he so often was in rallies today, and sent a forehand long. But Cañas immediately lapsed, giving back the break immediately with a double fault of his own at 30-40. Roddick seemed to have some momentum now, and held at love to take a 2-1 lead. At this point we noticed that the Argentine?s unforced error count had climbed to 4, which was still a far sight bette
r than Roddick?s 18.
Roddick was now worrying Cañas?s service game, driving wicked forehands and getting to 30-30 in games four and six. But the youngster was unable to break through. With Cañas serving at 2-3, 30-30, the Argentine had to make a difficult half-volley: Roddick ran it down, but failed to lift his reply high enough and almost tumbled over the net. Andy ended up in a rather compromising position, with a leg on each side of the net.
Cañas went on to hold, and the players stayed on serve until Roddick?s 5-5 service game. 0-15: Cañas again returns a first serve, but the return is short, bringing Roddick to the net where he is still not comfortable? and Cañas passes him with a down-the-line backhand. 0-30: another Roddick error, a forehand into the net. 0-40: Roddick approaches and strikes a horrible backhand volley into the bottom of the net. ?Willy? has the break, and will serve for the match. He does so impeccably, at love, with
three aces followed by a solid approach shot that draws a wide forehand passing attempt from Roddick. Cañas wins!
The Argentine, as he did yesterday, celebrated match point by falling to his back and flapping his legs in the air. After a warm accolade with his victim, Cañas applauds the crowd, especially the Argentine section, gives a thumbs up salute, and then jogs to his support group to hug his coach, Hernán Gumy, and his physical trainer. Make the final: 6-4, 7-5, in 1 hour, 17 minutes.
The ever-popular trophy presentation
A subdued Roddick accepted the runner-up cheque. Andy made a point to say, ?Hi Mom?: his mother was unable to be here and was watching back in Florida on television. Cañas, visibly nervous, gave a nervous ?Hello!? as he stepped to the microphone. ?This is a tough moment for me, the speech now.? After congratulating Andy on his week, Guillermo made a point to thank the Argentine fans, his coach and trainer, as well as his girlfriend who was in attendance. It should be said that Cañas credits coach Hern
án Gumy, the recently-retired Argentine player with whom he started working four months ago, for much of his recent improvement.
Post-mortem
Andy Roddick didn?t have a very restful sleep last night, as his slumber was repeatedly disturbed by noisy frolickers at the Caribana festival, or as Roddick called it, the ?Cari-whatever?. ?I guess I was the only one not in the mood to rock out last night.? He felt his major problem today was impatience, and it?s true that he did not exhibit the same savvy that he showed in his baseline points with Jiri Novak last night. ?I wasn?t picking my spots to go for it very well.?
Andy was also quick to recognize the brilliance of his opponent. ?Guillermo, his time has been coming. He?s been playing well the last couple of years, and I don?t think this surprises anyone on the tour.?
Despite the disappointment, Roddick is pleased to have reached his first Masters Series final, and to get the hard court season of to a good start. ?I?m taking away a lot more good things than bad from this tournament,? summarized the young American sensation.
Cañas seemed at a loss for words to describe his accomplishments this week, and we didn?t think that it was just because of the language barrier. ?Maybe I?m surprised? I?m very happy.? Guillermo impressed us with his strong nerves in the clutch, but he revealed after the match that he was not always Mister Composure. In 1999, Cañas famously blew a 6-3, 6-3, 5-0 lead against Maurice Ruah of Venezuela in Davis Cup play, and also blew a 6-3, 5-2 lead to Tim Henman here in Toronto in 1998. ?Now I feel nerv
ous,? said Cañas, ?but I play better in this type of moment.?
When asked how he plans to celebrate, the affable Argentine battler replied, ?I have a plane tonight at 10:00. I try to make that plane!? Guillermo is Cincinnati bound, and plays Pete Sampras in the opening round next week. ?I?m in good shape to play this big star in tennis,? said the Argentine, who has every right to be overflowing with self-belief given his brilliant week in Toronto.
Bob Bryan / Mike Bryan (6) def. Daniel Nestor / Mark Knowles (1), 4-6, 7-6 (7-1), 6-3
Doubles final
The 24-year-old Bryan twins out of California completed a giant-killing week of doubles by besting the top seeds, and the hometown favourite Daniel Nestor, in front of a large, pro Knowles/Nestor crowd that stayed around after the singles final.
After dropping the first set, lefthanded Mike and righthanded Bob turned the match their way by dominating the second set tie-break. They picked up the first mini-break on a Nestor double fault, and added a second at 4-1 on a Knowles volley error, to take the tie-break 7-1.
From this point on the were by far the Bryans were the better and more energetic team, bouncing on their toes and covering the court like a blanket. They broke Nestor?s serve in the opening game of the third set for the only break they needed. The fiery Knowles was getting testy: after a non-overrule early in the third set he went ballistic, using the ??f? word" to the umpire and adding, ?you?re doing a horrible job!? Undeterred, the Bryans held serve the rest of the way to claim an important title. O
ur man of the match was Mike Bryan, who served brilliantly as he has all week, and also played a splendid return game in the ad court.
The Bryans really earned the title: they beat the top two seeded teams (the twins also knocked out second seeds Don Johnson / Jared Palmer in the quarters), and fought off two match points in their semifinal against David Prinosil / David Rikl.
The Honour Roll
This was a fantastic week of tennis, perhaps the highest quality tournament I have ever attended, bar none. We conclude by looking back at the highs and lows of a wild and crazy tournament
Match of the week: It?s almost impossible to choose here. The depth of talent in the ATP was in ample display, and eight matches were decided by a third-set tie-break. We?ll go with one of those, the riveting Guillermo Cañas - Tommy Haas semifinal, in which Cañas had to produce some extraordinary tennis to prevail.
Revelation of the week: We have to go with Guillermo Cañas again here. Everyone knew he was a good player and at home on hard courts as well as clay, but for the Argentine to go through four top-ten players to the final, and another who will be in the top ten next week, was quite astonishing. There was nothing fluky about it, as Guillermo played brilliant tennis throughout. On top of that, Willy seems to be a genuinely nice guy.
Double faults of the week: Two of the big attractions here, ex-perennial Wimbledon champion Pete Sampras and perennial Wimbledon semifinalist Tim Henman, left town regretting a crucial missed second serve. Facing match point in the tense third set tie-break of his third round match with Tommy Haas, Pete threw in the dreaded double. Tim did the same with match point on his racquet in the second set of his eventual quarterfinal loss to David Nalbandian.
Endearing tantrum of the week: Younes El Aynaoui banged his head three times against an advertising signboard after losing a critical point in the third set of his second round loss to Yevgeny Kafelnikov. An amused fan commented, ?I guess that?s why he has that bushy hair.?
Accusation of the week: Cramping and dehydration were problem for several players because of the long matches played in heat and humidity. With them came accusations of embellishing cramping episodes to throw opponents off. Nicolás Lapentti?s angry confrontation with Andy Roddick was widely reported, but in a more obscure match Michel Kratochvil made the same accusation about Paradorn Srichaphan.
Endangered species of the week: Speaking of cramping, the tournament site, the cramped and outdated York University Tennis Centre, will be replaced by a new stadium planned for 2004. While the current site is congested and the facilities for players are substandard, more than one fan has told us they like the intimate surroundings. ?I?m afraid the new place will be a monstrosity,? said one long-time tournament attendee.
Fans of the week: Even though their act may have worn a bit thin for those who were here every day, the NetHeads, a rambunctious band of cheering and chanting fanatics who wore nets over the tops of their caps and bandanas, added a lot of atmosphere this year. Honourable mention to the singing, chanting, flag-waving Brazilians, Chileans and Argentines who always added a little sabor to matches that featured one of their guys.
Scandal of the week: Both Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Marat Safin admitted they are acquainted with Alimzhan Tokhtakhounov, an alleged mob boss from Russia arrested this in Italy on charges that he helped fix the Olympic figure skating results, The Russian mob?s tentacles are known to extend to other sports, such as ice hockey, and the exact nature of the relationship between Tokhtakhounov and the Russian tennis fraternity remains a mystery.
Thanks for following the Tennis Masters Toronto with us this week, and stay with us for more On The Line tennis coverage throughout the summer.