Good news for Canadian tennis >>>

[Marius_Hancu]

Originally Posted by bad_call

Dancevic playing with a wilson racquet now. congrats to him.

Really? Interesting. Get Federer's

[Marius_Hancu]

Bruno Agostinelli, new to the pros after winning the decider in the Davis Cup for Peru, has started the long path of earning ATP points:

http://www.itftennis.com/mens/player...ayer=100012799

Having been in the NCAA, he didn't have any until weeks ago.

Let's hope for a WC in Montreal, he deserves it!

[Richie Rich]

Originally Posted by Marius_Hancu

Really? Interesting. Get Federer's

been using since AO, i think.

[Marius_Hancu]

Granby Men's Singles
July 27

Fin. M. Raonic 6 1
Y. Sugita 7 6

Fin. T. Widom 7 6
B. Agostinelli 6 4

Fin. J. De Armas 5 4
P. Polansky 7 6

Too bad, Polansky the only winner among the Canadians.

[Marius_Hancu]

Frank Dancevic, Peter Polansky et Frédéric Niemeyer get WCs into the main draw.

http://www.rds.ca/intercanada/chroniques/279696.html
(in French)

Pierre-Ludovic Duclos, Bruno Agostinelli, Milos Raonic et Vasek Pospisil get WC for the Qs.

I'm sorry to see Bruno Agostinelli didn't get an entry in the main draw, in the end he saved the team (and the country, tennis-wise) in the Davis Cup in the 5th match with Peru.

I understand he will have to pay his dues in the pros and get a better ATP ranking, but I'm sure something could have been done as a special case.

Let's hope he'll qualify anyway.

[clayman2000]

Originally Posted by Marius_Hancu

Frank Dancevic, Peter Polansky et Frédéric Niemeyer get WCs into the main draw.

http://www.rds.ca/intercanada/chroniques/279696.html
(in French)

Pierre-Ludovic Duclos, Bruno Agostinelli, Milos Raonic et Vasek Pospisil get WC for the Qs.

I'm sorry to see Bruno Agostinelli didn't get an entry in the main draw, in the end he saved the team (and the country, tennis-wise) in the Davis Cup in the 5th match with Peru.

I understand he will have to pay his dues in the pros and get a better ATP ranking, but I'm sure something could have been done as a special case.

Let's hope he'll qualify anyway.

I know Niemeyer is an old vet and Davis Cup warrior, but does he still need a WC. He should have done what Nestor did, and stop accepting them. Guys like Ranoic and Popisil should get the 3rd Canadian WC

[FredMurray]

If only the canadians had a player, like the GOAT Rusedski .Then tennis would be very popular in canada.

[flyinghippos101]

Originally Posted by FredMurray

If only the canadians had a player, like the GOAT Rusedski .Then tennis would be very popular in canada.

too bad he went British, now canadians hate him

[Marius_Hancu]

Originally Posted by Marius_Hancu

Frank Dancevic, Peter Polansky et Frédéric Niemeyer get WCs into the main draw.

http://www.rds.ca/intercanada/chroniques/279696.html
(in French)

Pierre-Ludovic Duclos, Bruno Agostinelli, Milos Raonic et Vasek Pospisil get WC for the Qs.

I'm sorry to see Bruno Agostinelli didn't get an entry in the main draw, in the end he saved the team (and the country, tennis-wise) in the Davis Cup in the 5th match with Peru.

I understand he will have to pay his dues in the pros and get a better ATP ranking, but I'm sure something could have been done as a special case.

Let's hope he'll qualify anyway.

Perhaps we haven't been lobbying for nothing here
Bruno Agostinelli got a WC to the main draw.

Agostinelli sera du tableau principal
http://www.rds.ca/intercanada/chroniques/279906.html
(in French)

Great thinking, Tennis Canada and Rogers organizers!

[Marius_Hancu]

http://www.atpworldtour.com/posting/2009/421/mds.pdf

Two Canadians to fight it out in the 1st round
Polansky vs Agostinelli
the winner to play Djokovic
not bad a pay for a day's work

[ford oliver]

FYI: Frederic Niemeyer is 1-11 at the Canadian Open while England's Alex Bogdanovic is 0-8 at Wimbledon.

[Marius_Hancu]

Frederic Niemeyer has been for many years a top (and at times the top) Canadian player, and a stalwart member of our Davis Cup team.

This is probably a dream for him, to play in his farewell tournament the top player in the world, in front of the home crowd, on center court in Montreal, where he has spent so many hours training.

Bravo, Frederic, and thanks!

Nice to have Yahoo talking about him:
----

Canada’s Frederic Niemeyer advances in Montreal


MONTREAL (AP)—Frederic Niemeyer, a Canadian ranked No. 487, enjoyed an upset before a home crowd Monday by defeating Russia’s Igor Kunitsyn 7-5, 6-1 in the first round of the Rogers Cup.

Niemeyer will not have long to enjoy his victory over his No. 39-ranked opponent. He next faces Roger Federer, who will be playing his first match since winning Wimbledon on July 6.

“It will be an honor to play Roger in front of this crowd,” said Niemeyer, a 33-year-old Quebecer playing his final season of professional tennis. “He’s the greatest player of all time, so to finish against him will be special. Or to beat him.”

Federer has been off the tour to attend to the July 23 birth of his twin daughters. Niemeyer lost to the top-ranked Swiss 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in 1998.

“I also played a tournament when my daughter was 2 weeks, and I didn’t sleep very much that week,” Niemeyer said. “He has two (kids), so hopefully he doesn’t sleep at all.”

Niemeyer rallied to make it 5-5 in the first set and was up 40-love when he hit his left knee with his racket on an overhead volley.

“I was like, ‘Please, don’t end like this,”’ he said. “The pain was very sharp at first, but it slowly went away.”

Niemeyer recovered to go up 6-5 and closed out the set 7-5. He surrendered only 15 points and lost only one game in the second set.

“In previous years, I was trying to impress or trying to prove too much or trying to play too well,” he said. “But I actually never played too well here.”

In another first-round match, Croatia’s Marin Cilic failed to take advantage of his booming serve and lost to Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-1.

The 6-foot-6 Cilic, seeded 14th, made only 50 percent of his first serves. This was the second straight hardcourt tournament that Cilic did not win a match. He lost to No. 153 Somdev Devvarman of India in Washington last week.

Germany’s Rainer Schuettler defeated Florent Serra of France 6-4, 6-0. Schuettler will face seventh-seeded Jo-Wilfred Tsonga of France in the second round.

Russia’s Igor Andreev advanced when countryman Dmitry Tursonov quit with the score 5-5 in the first set because of an injured left ankle.

http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/news;_yl...v=ap&type=lgns
------

What probably is his final interview as a playing pro:
http://www.asapsports.com/show_interview.php?id=58362

There's a good picture of him and an article in French here:
http://www.rds.ca/intercanada/chroniques/280113.html

[Blinkism]

Originally Posted by Marius_Hancu

“It will be an honor to play Roger in front of this crowd,” said Niemeyer, a 33-year-old Quebecer playing his final season of professional tennis. “He’s the greatest player of all time, so to finish against him will be special. Or to beat him.”

that'd be like a dream come true for Frederic and a spectacle to see.

[BGB.CA]

Great to see at leas two Canadians into the second round I hope Frank can pull it off tonight. I like his chances against Simon, if he gets his serve and attacking game going he could give Simon a very hard time. Dancevic seems to have more problems with the power baseliners like Tursonov or Safin types than he does with the grinders like Simon. It looks like this is going to be Simon's first hardcourt match this summer and he hasn't been on top form lately, hopefully this has the makings of an upset.

[Marius_Hancu]

I feel Milos Raonic really came of age in this great match.

After beating two very respectable top 100 players, Gabashvili and Llodra, in the qualifying, this was to be a night of proof by fire against a great pro such as Fernando Gonzalez.

The atmosphere on the court 1 in Montreal was amazing, with a large influx of late spectators coming in from the Federer Niemeyer on centre court, all of them stunned by the composure, serving and the hitting of this new kid on the block for most of them, confronting a very dangerous veteran and staying with him and beating him in long exchanges.

Standing ovations for Raonic, chants by Chilean supporters, it was all very hot, one of the best nights I remember in Canadian tennis.

Raonic's slice was way better than I remembered it to be and very effective. I was surprised to see how clever he was in using it in taking Gonzalez's pace and moving him around.

Surprisingly good volleying (except on that unlucky one in the TB of the 2nd set, when he gave the match away:-[).

Let's hope he and Tennis Canada will know how to use the momentum.

P.S.
Interview in English after Gonzalez
http://www.asapsports.com/show_interview.php?id=58364

Interview after beating Llodra:
http://www.asapsports.com/show_interview.php?id=58328

An article/interview in French on his victory:
http://www.rds.ca/intercanada/chroniques/280235.html

[jrod]

Originally Posted by Marius_Hancu

I'm reposting this here:

The atmosphere on the court 1 was amazing, with a large influx of late spectators coming in from the Federer Niemeyer on centre court, all of them stunned by the composure, serving and the hitting of this new kid on the block for most of them, confronting a very dangerous veteran.

Standing ovations for Raonic, chants by Chilean supporters, it was all very hot, one of the best nights I remember in Canadian tennis.

Raonic slice was way better than I remember it to be and very effective.

Let's hope he and Tennis Canada will know how to use the momentum.

What a performance by Raonic! Really thought he played an extremely intelligent match. His mental composure for someone 18 years old is unbelievable. I'd love to hook my 14 year old son with whoever coaches Raonic to see if some of this mental fortitude skills might take hold. Rock solid performance by the kid last night.

[Marius_Hancu]

Nice progression:

After wining two Q rounds and barely being beaten by F. Gonzalez in Montreal, the 18-year-old Canadian went to #511. Now, he's at #486 after winning a Futures (and being the runnerup in another):

http://www.itftennis.com/mens/tourna...114292&round=5

[Marius_Hancu]

11 AM today, great matchup for us Canadians.

Both Wozniak and Dubois have performed well in the 1st round at the Open.

In French:
http://www.rds.ca/usopentennis/chroniques/281446.html
http://www.rds.ca/usopentennis/chroniques/281523.html

[sp00q]

Wow, first win in a Grand Slam for Dubois. She's a nice kid, congrats. The match vs Cirstea in the next round should be a hot one.

[CaptainInsano]

Woohoo!!! Wozniak is through 2nd round beating Mauresmo.

Congrats!!