The world’s best ATP players are in Toronto, Canada this week for the Rogers Cup and the fifth Masters 1000 event of 2014.  Of course, there is one name missing from the line-up and that is Rafael Nadal, who is facing a race against time to be fit for the US Open.   Nadal picked up a wrist injury, or more specifically, “a small disinsertion of the posterior ulnar pod of the right wrist”.  You can read more on Nadal’s injury in this article by Ben Rothenberg for the NY Times HERE.  Anyway it’s a good line-up although i’m much more fired up for the WTA tournament in Montreal, which I will be previewing later today.  Let’s take a look at the draw…

Note: First round matches featuring qualifiers have now been added to the preview.  Kei Nishikori has pulled out of the tournament with a foot injury and been replaced in the draw by Tommy Robredo.

FIRST QUARTER: N.Djokovic (1) v A.Murray (8)

Life has been pretty good for Novak Djokovic.  After winning Wimbledon, his first Grand Slam since Australia 2013, Novak got married to long-term girlfriend, Jelena Ristic.  Djokovic prevailed over Roger Federer in a five set classic on Centre Court.  It was an immensely important match for Novak who had really struggled mentally in the crucial junctures of Grand Slam matches for the past year.  After wasting a match point in the fourth set, he recovered magnificently well to seal his second Wimbledon title.  Moving ahead into the summer hard court season, Djokovic is the one to beat.  His first match in Toronto will be against Radek Stepanek or Gael Monfils.  Djokovic and Stepanek played out a hugely entertaining second round match at Wimby so a repeat of that would be fun.  Monfils has been hampered with injuries and pulled out of both Atlanta and Washington.  Djokovic is projected to meet Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the third round.  Poor old Jo.  I can’t face having to preview that match again.

Djokovic has a pretty mean looking draw and could meet Andy Murray in the quarter-finals.  After a thumping straight sets loss to Grigor Dimitrov in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon, Murray went off the radar.  He’s been training in Miami ahead of the US stretch, which *should* be a good time for him.  With Amelie Mauresmo firmly on board, I think Murray will turn his fortunes around.  His first match of the week will be against Santiago Giraldo or Nadal-slayer, Nick Kyrgios.  All the talk is about Kyrgios, but let’s not forget Giraldo is actually a pretty good tennis player.  The world number 36 reached the quarter-finals of the Citi Open in Washington.  The other seed in this section is Richard Gasquet, who faces last year’s Rogers Cup semi-finalist, Vasek Pospisil in the first round.  The pair just met in the semi-finals of DC, knowing that they will be playing again in Toronto… very odd.  The winner could meet Ivo Karlovic in the second round… tough.

1st Round Predictions: Stepanek d. Monfils in 2 sets, Chardy d. Delbonis in 2 sets, Tomic d. Karlovic in 3 sets, Tsonga d. Roger-Vasselin in 2 tight sets and Gasquet d. Pospisil in 3 sets

Moo’s Quarter-Final Prediction: Djokovic v Murray

SECOND QUARTER: S.Wawrinka (3) v G.Dimitrov (7)

Stan Wawrinka skipped Gstaad this year and will make his first appearance since a career best quarter-final showing at Wimbledon.  Stan’s year has been very up-and-down.  Apart from the obvious glowing highlights, winning the Australian Open and Monte-Carlo, he’s had his fair share of poor showings.  Wawrinka will play Alejandro Falla or a qualifier in the second round.  The first seed he could meet is Fabio Fognini, who remains impossible to predict.  Fognini opens Mikhail Youzhny, who has not got going this year although should fancy his chances against Fabio.  Kevin Anderson would be a more likely third round opponent for Wawrinka and could go deeper, having defeated Wawrinka earlier this year at Indian Wells.  It’s all ifs and buts, BUT i’m not confident about Wawrinka’s chances of going past the quarter-finals.

Grigor Dimitrov is having a super year.  For the first time at a Masters 1000 event, he has a top eight seeding and therefore, a bye into the second round.  He headlines an interesting section that also features Kei Nishikori.  The Japanese star opens against Philipp Kohlschreiber in one of the more eye catching first round matches.  The pair have never played before and I am worried about that match-up for Kei, particularly after he looked to be dealing with a foot injury in DC..  The winner of that match will face the winner of Gilles Simon against Dominic Thiem.  Thiem just reached his first ATP final in Kitzbuhel, falling in three sets to David Goffin.  The transition from clay to hard courts will be tough, but Simon has gone 0-2 since Wimbledon and had an incident in Gstaad where he cut his chin after losing consciousness.  You can read the full story on SteveGTennis HERE.  There’s always going to be rust having not played for a month, but I like this draw for Dimitrov and I think if he can settle in his first match, he could go deep in this draw.

1st Round Predictions: Paire d. Falla in 3 sets, Youzhny d. Fognini in 3 sets, Kohlschreiber d. Nishikori in 3 sets, Thiem d. Simon in 3 sets (there’s reasons why neither will win this match!) and Young d. Dancevic in 2 tight sets

Moo’s Quarter-Final Prediction: Wawrinka v Dimitrov

THIRD QUARTER: M.Raonic (6) v T.Berdych (4)

It’s a pretty big week in Canada for Milos Raonic, who has made some huge strides on the ATP tour in 2014.  Raonic returns to the Rogers Cup as a Grand Slam semi-finalist after breaking through at Wimbledon.  He’s also returning as last year’s finalist with plenty of points to defend.  Raonic reached his first final of the year in DC.  His first match in Toronto will be against Jack Sock or Jurgen Melzer.  Raonic beat Sock in Washington and has a 4-1 H2H record against the American including three victories in 2014.  In fact, this could be the third tournament in a row that Raonic has played Sock as they also played at Wimbledon.  Ernests Gulbis is also in this section and opens against Joao Sousa; the winner of that will meet the victor of another first round match featuring Lleyton Hewitt and Julien Benneteau.  Gulbis’s form remains a mystery, but Hewit has been playing well of late, winning Newport and reaching the last 16 at DC.

Tomas Berdych doesn’t have a good record in tournaments when he is the number one seed.  He fell in the third round of the Citi Open to Vasek Pospisil, 6-2 6-4.  Berdych is now 0-2 against Pospisil in the H2H.  First up for Tomas in Toronto will be Marcel Granollers or Yen-Hsun Lu.  He could meet Roberto Bautista Agut in the third round.  RBA is already the leading candidate for the ATP’s most improved player n 2014.  He’s won two titles in s’Hertogenbosch and Stuttgart and proved himself on every surface this year.  Bautista Agut has also beaten Berdych on hard courts before so if they were to meet in the third round, it would be a tough match for Berd.  Playing in front of a home crowd and having matches under his belt from a very solid run in DC, Milos will be the favourite to come out of this section.

1st Round Predictions: Sock d. Melzer in 2 sets, Hewitt d. Benneteau in 2 sets, Gulbis d. Sousa in 3 sets, Bautista Agut d. Lopez in 3 sets and Granollers d. Lu in 2 sets

Moo’s Quarter-Final Prediction: Raonic v Berdych

FOURTH QUARTER: D.Ferrer (5) v R.Federer (2)

After a well deserved break in Switzerland, Roger’s back and as the number two seed.  When Federer’s form and health suffered at this stage of 2013, there were many doubters who thought he was on the way out.  Roger’s had a great year and came agonisingly close at Wimbledon to bagging another Grand Slam title.  Federer has a rather delightful draw and should really be making the final.  He will play Peter Polansky or Jerzy Janowicz in his first match since Wimby.  Marin Cilic is a potential third round opponent followed by David Ferrer in the quarter-finals.  Ferrer reached the final of Hamburg two weeks ago.  He looked incredibly pumped up in the final, but lost to first ATP titlist, Leonardo Mayer in a lengthy encounter, 6-7(3) 6-1 7-6(4).  There have been a few reports suggesting Ferrer is struggling with an injury.  Even if he isn’t, i’ve got a feeling he will bomb out early in Toronto.  If he does, John Isner will become the overwhelming favourite to reach the quarter-finals.

1st Round Predictions: Russell d. Mahut in 2 sets, Isner d. Dodig in 2 sets, Cilic d. Istomin in 3 sets, Matosevic d. Garcia-Lopez in 2 tight sets and Janowicz d. Polansky in 3 sets

Moo’s Quarter-Final Prediction: Isner v Federer

 Moo’s Final Prediction: Djokovic d. Federer

There’s not a great deal to say with this prediction.  Federer has a great draw and I think the Wimbledon win for Djokovic was bigger than huge.